Effect of essential hypertension on QTc dispersion in patients with intracerebral haemorrhage

Aim: To investigate the effects of essential hypertension on QTc dispersion (QTcd) in patients with intracerebral haematoma (ICH). Materials and methods: This prospective study included adult patients presenting with acute ICH within the first 24 h of ictus to the Emergency Department (ED). On admission, following the first clinical assessment of patients, a complete12-lead ECG and non-contrast computed tomography (CT) were obtained from each patient. Then, the patients were divided into 2 subgroups according to the presence of hypertension history. The patient groups were compared to each other as well as the control group for QTcd. Results: The study groups consisted of 47 hypertensive (group 1) without evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy and 30 non-hypertensive patients (group 2). Forthy two subjects served as control. While in the hypertensive patient group mean QTcd was 49.36 ± 20 ms, in the non-hypertensive group, it was 48.00 ± 19 ms (P 0.05). Conclusion: In the present study, although QTcd was higher in the group 1 compared to group 2, this difference was notstatistically significant. Thus, systemic hypertension does not seem to have a great effect on post-stroke QTcd in ICH patients.