Importance of Morphological Changes in T-U Waves During Bepridil Therapy as a Predictor of Ventricular Arrhythmic Event

Background: Although bepridil is a useful anti-arrhythmic agent for atrial fibrillation, the appearance of serious ventricular arrhythmia, such as torsades de pointes, might be a problem. In this study, T-U wave morphology was evaluated during bepridil therapy and was examined as a predictor of ventricular arrhythmic events. Methods and Results: The study population consisted of 113 patients on bepridil therapy. They were divided into 2 groups with and without ventricular arrhythmic events. Morphological changes in T-U waves were analyzed in leads V2-5. During bepridil treatment, the QTc interval was prolonged from 0.45±0.01 to 0.49±0.01 s1/2 in all patients (P