Objective: Fragmented QRS (fQRS) has been shown to be related to coronary heart disease, heart failure, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia, and metabolic syndrome. Although fQRS in lateral leads is shown to be associated with a poor outcome in patients with a known cardiac disease, the knowledge about the significance and prevalence of fQRS in inferior leads is scarce. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and predictors of fQRS in inferior leads in healthy young men.
Methods: A total of 1,155 men underwent electrocardiography (ECG), hepatic ultrasonography, and routine biochemical tests. A total of 210 eligible men with fQRS in inferior leads (group 1) and 770 eligible men without fQRS in inferior leads (group 2) were compared with each other in terms of clinical, demographic, and laboratory parameters.
Results: The prevalence of fQRS in inferior leads was found to 21.4%. Body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (BP), creatinine, and alanine aminotransferase levels; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) percentage; and interventricular septum thickness (IVST) were significantly greater in group 1 than those in group 2. BMI, IVST, NAFLD, creatinine, ALT, and systolic BP were entered in a model of multiple regression analyses to predict fQRS, a dependent variable. NAFLD was the best independent predictor of fQRS (β=6.115, p=0.001). BMI (β=1.448, p=0.014) and IVST (β=1.058, p=0.029) were the other independent predictors of fQRS in inferior leads.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated the association of fQRS in inferior leads with NAFLD, BMI, and IVST in young men.