The role of baseline and post-treatment frontal QRS-T angle for detecting arterial blood pressure control

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the value of the frontal QRS-T angle (f(QRS-T)) in determining blood pressure control among newly diagnosed hypertensive patients with no left ventricular hypertrophy. Methods: Fifty patients with newly diagnosed hypertension were included in this single-center study. The patients were examined with 12-lead ECGs and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24 h-ABPM) before and 1 month after antihypertensive treatment. Results: Baseline and post-treatment f(QRS-T) angle values were observed to be similar (38.0 [0.0–174.0] and 37.0 [1.0–139.0], respectively; p = .827). The values of QT minimum (p = .006), QTc mean (p = .030), Tp-e (p = .027), and JTc (p = .010) significantly decreased after control of blood pressure. Conclusions: The f(QRS-T) angle, which can be easily calculated on the ECG, is not a useful tool to determine hypertension control at early stage in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients.

Keywords

• hypertension
• electrocardiogram
• frontal (qrs-t) angle
• ambulatory blood pressure monitor