• Yavuz Gürkan, Hakan Canatay, Aysen Agacdiken, Ertan Ural, and Kamil Toker.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation, Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey.
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2003 Mar 1; 13 (3): 223-7.

BackgroundThe QT dispersion (QTd) of the ECG is an indirect measure of heterogeneity of ventricular repolarization which may contribute to complex ventricular arrhythmias. We compared the effects of halothane and sevoflurane on QTd, and heart-rate corrected QT dispersion (QTcd).MethodsFifty ASA physical status I patients, aged 5-15 years, undergoing general anaesthesia were studied. A control ECG recording was printed before induction of anaesthesia. In the halothane group, anaesthesia was induced with halothane 4% in 2 : 1 ratio of air : O2 mixture and in the sevoflurane group with sevoflurane 8% in 2 : 1 ratio of air : O2 mixture. The ECG was recorded 1 and 3 min after induction of anaesthesia, 1 and 3 min after the administration of vecuronium 0.08 m.kg(-1) intravenous and 1 and 3 min after the tracheal intubation. All ECGs were analysed by two cardiologists blinded to the anaesthetic.ResultsAlthough QTd increased in both groups following intubation, this difference was not statistically significant when compared with control values. Following intubation five patients in the halothane group had ventricular arrhythmias of short duration, whereas no arrhythmias were recorded in the sevoflurane group (P = 0.052). Following intubation, QTd (45 +/- 15 ms vs 40 +/- 14 ms) and QTcd (60 +/- 17 ms vs 55 +/- 16 ms) values in the halothane group were significantly greater than the sevoflurane group (P < 0.05).ConclusionNeither sevoflurane nor halothane caused a significant increase in QTd compared with control values before induction. Only QTd following intubation was significantly greater in the halothane group than the sevoflurane group.

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