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Highlights the methodological limitation of using the Bazett formula for QTc correction without adjusting for heart rate as a confounding covariate in hypertension studies.
We read with great interest the article by Schillaci et al1 examining the relationship between heart ratecorrected QT (QTc) interval duration and morbidity and mortality in hypertension. This article adds to the numerous articles relating QTc prolongation to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.2 However, the Bazett correction formula, which has been widely used in epidemiological studies, including the study by Schillaci et al,1 is well known to overcorrect QTc interval (ie, to yield falsely prolonged QTc values) when heart rate increases above 60 beats/min.3-4 Schillaci et al found a strong residual direct correlation between QTc and heart rate but apparently did not examine the role of heart rate in predicting the risks they assessed. Surprisingly, they did not include heart rate as a potential confounding covariate for the association between QTc interval prolongation and risks in their multivariate analyses. Since increased heart rate is
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Funck‐Brentano et al. (2006) studied this question.
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