Published Online
on March 22, 2004

A more recent version of this article appeared on April 20, 2004

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Submitted on July 21, 2003
Revised on October 31, 2003
Accepted on January 27, 2004

Effects of Acute Mental Stress and Exercise on T-Wave Alternans in Patients With Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators and Controls

Willem J. Kop PhD^*, David S. Krantz PhD, Bruce D. Nearing PhD, John S. Gottdiener MD, John F. Quigley PhD, Mark O’Callahan BS, Albert A. DelNegro MD, Ted D. Friehling MD, Pamela Karasik MD, Sonia Suchday PhD, Joseph Levine MD, and Richard L. Verrier PhD

From the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (W.J.K., D.S.K., J.F.Q., M.O., S.S.), Bethesda, Md; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B.D.N., R.L.V.), Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass; Saint Francis Hospital (J.S.G., J.L.), Roslyn, NY; Arrhythmia Associates and INOVA Fairfax Hospital (A.A.D., T.D.F.), Fairfax, Va; and Veterans Affairs Medical Center (P.K.), Washington, DC.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wjkop{at}usuhs.mil.

Background--Malignant cardiac arrhythmias can be triggered by exercise and by mental stress in vulnerable patients. Exercise-induced T-wave alternans (TWA) is an established marker of cardiac electrical instability. However, the effects of acute mental stress on TWA have not been investigated as a vulnerability marker in humans.

Methods and Results--TWA responses to mental stress (anger recall and mental arithmetic) and bicycle ergometry were evaluated in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and documented coronary artery disease (n=23, age 62.1±12.3 years) and controls (n=17, age 54.2±12.1 years). TWA was assessed from digitized ECGs by modified moving average analysis. Dual-isotope single photon emission computed tomography was used to assess myocardial ischemia. TWA increased during mental stress and exercise (P values <0.001), and TWA responses were higher in ICD patients than in controls (arithmetic =8.9±1.4 versus 4.3±2.2 µV, P=0.043; exercise =21.4±2.8 versus 13.8±3.2 µV, P=0.038). TWA increases with mental stress occurred at substantially lower heart rates (anger recall =9.7±7.7 bpm, arithmetic =14.3±13.3 bpm) versus exercise (=53.7±22.7 bpm; P values <0.001). After adjustment for heart rate increases, mental stress and exercise provoked increased TWA in ICD patients (P values <0.05), but not in controls (P values >0.2). Ejection fraction and stress-induced myocardial ischemia were not associated with TWA.

Conclusions--Mental stress can induce cardiac electrical instability, as assessed via TWA, among patients with arrhythmic vulnerability and occurs at lower heart rates than with exercise. Pathophysiological mechanisms of mental stress-induced arrhythmias may therefore involve central and autonomic nervous system pathways that differ from exercise-induced arrhythmias.

Key words: arrhythmia • mental stress • exercise • ischemia • risk factors

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