Prognostic Significance of Fragmented QRS in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Objectives: The relationship between a fragmented QRS (fQRS) and clinical outcomes in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of fQRS in patients with HCM. Methods: Between 2000 and 2012, 326 unrelated patients with HCM (72% male with a mean age of 52 years) were included and were divided into 2 groups: those with fQRS and those without fQRS. Results: A total of 105/326(32.2%) patients with HCM presented with fQRS at enrollment. During a follow-up of 5.3 ± 2.4 years, 33 patients died, 30 of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cox regression analysis revealed that fQRS predicted a higher risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.24; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08-4.64; p = 0.030) and CVD mortality (adjusted HR 2.68; 95% CI 1.22-5.91; p = 0.014). Our study also showed that fQRS increased the risk of heart failure-related death (adjusted HR 3.75; 95% CI 1.24-11.30; p = 0.019). Conclusions: Our results indicate that fQRS is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with HCM.