Preoperative Prevalence of J-Wave Syndrome Electrocardiographic Patterns and Their Association With Perioperative Cardiac Events.

Objective: To evaluate the preoperative prevalence of each type of J-wave syndrome electrocardiographic pattern and its association with perioperative cardiac events.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Single hospital university study.

Participants: The study evaluated 930 patients who underwent gynecologic, abdominal, neurosurgical, orthopedic, and urologic surgeries.

Interventions: Preoperative standard 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring was performed, and each type of J-wave syndrome ECG pattern-types 1, 2, and 3 and Brugada syndrome-type-was evaluated. Incidence of perioperative cardiac events was investigated up to 1 year postoperatively using an electronic medical record system.

Measurements And Main Results: Data from 789 patients were included in the final study. Of these, 16 patients (2.0%) had J-wave syndrome: 7 patients (0.9%) had type-1 patterns; 5 patients (0.6%) had type-2 patterns; 2 patients (0.3%) had type-3 patterns; and 2 patients (0.3%) had Brugada syndrome-type ECG patterns. A J-point elevation≥0.2 mV, which is considered to be more dangerous, was found in only 2 patients with Brugada syndrome-type ECG patterns, both of whom suffered perioperative lethal arrhythmias.

Conclusion: Patients with J-wave syndrome ECG patterns, even dangerous patterns, are not necessarily associated with a higher risk of perioperative cardiac events. However, Brugada syndrome type ECG patterns should be carefully monitored.