Acute Effects of Smoking on Ventricular Repolarization

Objective: Cigarette smoking, modifiable and preventable risk factor of death due to cardiovascular changes globally. As the frequency increases, this alters the ventricular repolarization and sympathetic tone lead to ventricular arrhythmogenesis. The aim and objective of the study are to evaluate the effects of smoking (before and immediately after smoking) on ventricular repolarization by recording the Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QTc ratio by using an electrocardiogram, since it is an accurate, less expensive, and non – invasive tool. Methods: Around 40 healthy male volunteers who are smokers aged between 18 and 25 years were recruited in this study. All subjects were non-alcoholics, non–tobacco chewers took no drugs, and had a uniform pattern of diet and activity. The acute effect of smoking on the heart was determined by measuring the electrocardiographic parameter before and immediately after smoking a king-size cigarette. Results: The analysis showed that there was a statistically significant increase in heart rate immediately after smoking compared to baseline values in smokers. TP interval and Tp-e interval were increased immediately after smoking and were highly significant. Conclusion: Our study has proven that there was a remarkable change in cardiac activity immediately after smoking. Tp-e Interval may serve as a better risk factor to predict sudden cardiac arrest in the future especially in chronic smokers. Smoker’s heart is already injured due to its injurious chemicals, adding on to that every new cigarette increases the burden on cardiovascular health. Hence, it is never late to quit smoking rather than suffering from its injurious effect.