Deceleration-dependent shortening of the qt interval: A new electrocardiographic phenomenon?

Nancy Liebl, Frank Zimmerman, Soraya Nouri, J. Willis Hurst, Ihor Gussak, Preben Bjerregaard, B. R. Chaitman
1999 Clinical Cardiology  
In clinical cardiology, deceleration-dependent QT interval shortening is considered to be an extraordinary electrocardiographic phenomenon. We present an early premature born 4-year-old African-American girl with complications related to her premature birth, developmental delay, and several episodes of cardiac arrest. An episode of severe transient bradyarrhythmia was documented on Holter monitoring. The unique feature of the rhythm strips was paradoxical gradual shortening of the QT interval
more » ... 216 ms with accompanying transient T-waves abnormalities. The activation of the Ik, ACh due to an unusually high vagal discharge to the heart is proposed as a possible mechanism responsible for both slowing of the heart rate and shortening of the QT interval.
doi:10.1002/clc.4960220213 pmid:10068851 pmcid:PMC6655337 fatcat:hvtubwkza5fj5om6vjlpexmf5e