Separating ECG changes caused by potassium channel blocks from changes by anormal potassium concentrations
- type:Bachelor thesis
- tutor:
- person in charge:
Silvia Becker
-
Patients suffering from renal failure face an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. The connection between those two diseases is not fully understood, yet. One possible reason could be the varying ionic concentrations of Ca2+ and K+ in this patient group. However, the monitoring of the concentrations is always done with a blood sample and a subsequent laboratory analysis.
It is widely known, that ionic concentrations have an impact on the ECG waves. For example, hyperkalaemia can result in spiky narrow T waves. In previous studies, it was tried to estimate the ionic concentrations continuously with the help of the ECG. First results were promising. However, other diseases like the Long-QT2-Syndrome can cause similar changes regarding the peakedness in the ECG. The question arises, if it is possible to distinguish between different pathologies.
