Acta cardiologica
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The effects of halothane and sevoflurane on QT dispersion.
QT dispersion is defined as the difference between QT (max) and QT (min) in the 12-lead surface ECG. It has been shown to reflect regional variations in ventricular repolarization and is significantly greater in patients with arrhythmic events than in those without them. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of halothane and sevoflurane on QT and QTc dispersion during inhalational induction of anaesthesia. ⋯ The QTc interval did not change by both sevoflurane (443 +/- 7 vs. 431 +/- 21 ms, P > 0.05) and halothane (419 +/- 33 vs. 431 +/- 19 ms, P > 0.05) compared with baseline. Both halothane and sevoflurane cause myocardial repolarisation abnormalities in man in terms of increased QTc dispersion. This may be relevant in the aetiology of arrhythmias in patients during anaesthesia with halothane or sevoflurane.