Evaluation of cardiac repolarization inhomogeneity in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Objective: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is the most common endocrine-metabolic disease in childhood, which progresses with insulin deficiency and can cause serious cardiovascular complications. Atrial and ventricular arrhythmias are important cardiovascular complications of diabetes. In this study, cardiac repolarization inhomogeneity in children with Type 1 diabetes mellitus was evaluated electrocardiographically. Method: Between February 2021 and April 2021, 48 patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus and an equal number of healthy control groups were included in the study. Demographic characteristics of all cases were analyzed. P wave dispersion (PWd), QT interval (QT), QT dispersion (QTd), QTc interval (QTc), QTc dispersion (QTcd), Tpeak-Tend interval (Tp-e), Tp-e dispersion (Tp-ed) were evaluated with 12-lead electrocardiography, Tp-e/QT, Tp-Te/QTc ratios were calculated, and parameters were compared between both groups. Results: The mean age of the patient group was 11.44 ± 4 years, and the mean age of the control group was 9.97 ± 4.5 years. The study group consisted of 18 girls (37.5%) and 30 boys (62.5%). In the control group, there were 21 girls (43.7%) and 27 boys (56.3%). There was no significant difference between the patient and control groups in terms of age and gender. The disease duration of the cases was 35.10±30.7 months, and the HbA1c value was 8.4±1.75%. When heart rates, P wave duration, and PWd, QT, QTd, QTc, QTcd, Tp-e, Tp-ed values were compared between the patient and control groups, there was no statistically significant difference between the PWd, QT and QTc intervals, QTd, QTcd, Tp-e interval, Tp-e dispersion, Tp-e/QT, Tp-e/QTd measurements and ratios of the two groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: In our study, ventricular repolarization parameters of children with Type 1 diabetes and healthy children were found to be similar. Although we think the data we have obtained will contribute to the literature due to the limited number of studies on this subject in children, we believe that long-term and prospective studies involving more patients are needed.