Presence of fragmented QRS is associated with left ventricular systolic dysfunction after surgery in patients with severe aortic regurgitation

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY Chronic severe aortic regurgitation (AR) is associated with progressive accumulation of interstitial fibrosis and disruption of myocardial structure. After aortic valve replacement (AVR), the negative remodeling process reverses, and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) improves but not in all patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of fragmented QRS (F-QRS), which is a possible marker of myocardial fibrosis, with postoperative left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction. METHODS A total of 147 consecutive patients with AVR were included in this study. F-QRS was identified by the presence of various RSR' patterns (QRS duration