CUP Undergraduate Research
Title
Independent Association of Sudden Cardiac Death and the Tpeak-Tend Interval on Vectorcardiogram
Date of Award
1-1-2018
Document Type
Thesis
College
College of Arts & Sciences
Department
Math & Science
Degree Name
Biology, BA
First Advisor
Rici Hallstrand, Ph.D.
Abstract
The causes of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) are still uncertain in the field of electro-cardiology. Cardiac repolarization may be the instance in which fatal arrhythmias lead to SCD development. Cardiac disease has not been well treated, as it is the leading cause of death in industrialized nations. Correlation of the T wave length to Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) has been demonstrated in recent studies, most notably in a meta-analysis published in 2017, (Tse, Gong, Wong, Georgopoulos, Letsas, Vassiliou, … Liu, 2017). However, this project is attempting to show independent association of the T wave and SCD. Independent association demonstrates some mechanism in the heart which is elongating the T wave and also causing SCD. Use of the Vectorcardiogram (VCG) is novel because of its consistency and accuracy over an Electrocardiogram (ECG). The VCG offers three independent orthogonal views of the electrical activity of the heart, thus limiting subjectivity, overlapping information, and noise. Each of the three views offer an X, Y, and Z axis; when plotted, the electrical activity is represented as loops in three dimensional space. The Tpeak-Tend interval (Tp-Te) is measured on these VCG loops via algorithms developed by the Tereshchenko laboratory (Alday, Hamilton, Li-Pershing, Thomas, Gonzales, Li … Tereshchenko, 2018). The data being analyzed was gathered from two prospective cohort studies, known as the Arteriosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), (Waks, Sitlani, Soliman, Kabir, Ghafoori, Biggs, …, Tereshchenko, 2016). These cohorts provide digital ECGs, large study sample (>102,000 ECG readings), and repeat visits. The ten second ECG readings are mathematically transformed with the Kors Transformation Matrix, in order to provide the VCG which is then analyzed. Independent association of the Tp-Te interval and SCD will provide better predictors of SCD and the possibility of risk score development.