R-From-T as a Common Mechanism of Arrhythmia Initiation in Long QT Syndromes

Background: Long QT syndromes (LQTS) arise from many genetic and nongenetic causes with certain characteristic ECG features preceding polymorphic ventricular tachyarrhythmias (PVTs). However, how the many molecular causes result in these characteristic ECG patterns and how these patterns are mechanistically linked to the spontaneous initiation of PVT remain poorly understood.

Methods: Anatomic human ventricle and simplified tissue models were used to investigate the mechanisms of spontaneous initiation of PVT in LQTS.

Results: Spontaneous initiation of PVT was elicited by gradually ramping up I_Ca,L to simulate the initial phase of a sympathetic surge or by changing the heart rate, reproducing the different genotype-dependent clinical ECG features. In LQTS type 2 (LQT2) and LQTS type 3 (LQT3), T-wave alternans was observed followed by premature ventricular complexes (PVCs). Compensatory pauses occurred resulting in short-long-short sequences. As I_Ca,L increased further, PVT episodes occurred, always preceded by a short-long-short sequence. However, in LQTS type 1 (LQT1), once a PVC occurred, it always immediately led to an episode of PVT. Arrhythmias in LQT2 and LQT3 were bradycardia dependent, whereas those in LQT1 were not. In all 3 genotypes, PVCs always originated spontaneously from the steep repolarization gradient region and manifested on ECG as R-on-T. We call this mechanism R-from-T, to distinguish it from the classic explanation of R-on-T arrhythmogenesis in which an exogenous PVC coincidentally encounters a repolarizing region. In R-from-T, the PVC and the T wave are causally related, where steep repolarization gradients combined with enhanced I_Ca,L lead to PVCs emerging from the T wave. Since enhanced I_Ca,L was required for R-from-T to occur, suppressing window I_Ca,L effectively prevented arrhythmias in all 3 genotypes.

Conclusions: Despite the complex molecular causes, these results suggest that R-from-T is likely a common mechanism for PVT initiation in LQTS. Targeting I_Ca,L properties, such as suppressing window I_Ca,L or preventing excessive I_Ca,L increase, could be an effective unified therapy for arrhythmia prevention in LQTS.