P-Wave Dispersion in Patients with Constrictive Pericarditis of Non-Ischemic Etiology Including Tubercoulous and Non-Tuberculous Subjects: A Pilot Study

Although P-wave dispersion has proven to be a reliable electrocardiographic predictor of Atrial Fibrillation (AF) in many clinical settings, its significance in patients with Constrictive Pericarditis (CP) of non-ischemic origin is to be reported.. This study aimed to find out whether p-wave dispersion is prolonged in patients with documented CP of non-ischemic origin..Patients and This study was conducted on twenty patients with CP, 16 males and 4 females, with the mean age of 39.0 ± 20.5 years and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. All the Electrocardiograms (ECGs) were scanned and the P-wave parameters were measured electronically after × 400% magnification.. Our main finding was a significantly prolonged maximum P-wave duration (P = 0.018) and P-wave dispersion (P = 0.049) in the patients with CP compared to the control group. These parameters, however, did not have any correlation with the patients’ age and disease duration.. Since AF is common in patients with CP of any etiology and may have a negative impact on their outcome, detection of individuals susceptible to development of AF could be of great clinical value..