Short-Term Effects of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone on the Cardiac Conduction System in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Catheterization

Background/Aim: Air pollution-induced changes in cardiac electrophysiological properties could be a pathway linking air pollution and cardiovascular events. Yet, evidence of air pollution effects on the cardiac conduction system is incomplete. We investigated short-term effects of particulate matter ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) on cardiac electrical impulse propagation and repolarization as recorded in surface electrocardiograms (ECG).Methods: We analyzed repeated 12-lead ECG measurements performed on 5,819 patients between 2001 and 2012. The participants came from the Duke CATHGEN Study who underwent cardiac catheterization and resided in North Carolina, United States (NC, U.S.). Daily concentrations of PM2.5 and O3 at each participant’s home address were predicted with hybrid air quality exposure models. We used generalized additive mixed models to investigate the associations of PM2.5 and O3 with the PR interval, QRS interval, heart-rate-corrected QT interval (QTc...