{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T15:26:14Z","timestamp":1785425174074,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]],"date-time":"2025-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745971200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0Hyperkalaemia is a common electrolyte disorder in hospitalised patients and is associated with fatal cardiac arrhythmias. In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a paucity of data regarding the prevalence and type of electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in patients who have hyperkalaemia.\n\nMethods:\u00a0A retrospective descriptive study was conducted at Tygerberg Hospital over a one-year period in 2019. Adult patients with hyperkalaemia of \u2265 5.5 mmol\/L and associated ECG changes 3 h before or after documented laboratory hyperkalaemia were included. Spearman correlation coefficients and multilinear regression were used to identify correlations and associations, respectively, between serum potassium concentrations ([K+]) and various ECG changes.\n\nResults:\u00a0Of 344 patients who had hyperkalaemia and an associated ECG, 55% had ECG changes. These patients were older (60 years vs. 53 years,\u00a0p\u00a0= 0.01), male (57% vs. 43%,\u00a0p\u00a0&lt; 0.01) and had more frequent kidney disease (88% vs. 78%,\u00a0p\u00a0= 0.02). Statistically significant differences in all ECG measurements were present, except for\u00a0T\u00a0wave amplitude. The most frequent ECG alterations were\u00a0p-wave abnormalities (52%) and peaked\u00a0T\u00a0waves (45%). A weak-to-moderate correlation was present for the number of ECG changes and the [K+]. The QRS duration (\u03b2: 0.0076,\u00a0p\u00a0&lt; 0.001), PR interval (\u03b2: 0.0039,\u00a0p\u00a0&lt; 0.001) and\u00a0p\u00a0wave duration (\u03b2: \u20130.0056,\u00a0p\u00a0&lt; 0.01) were associated with the [K+].\n\nConclusion:\u00a0The overall prevalence of ECG changes due to hyperkalaemia was only 55%.\n\nContribution:\u00a0It is essential for clinicians to recognise that the ECG changes during hyperkalaemia may have limited screening value.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/jcmsa.v3i1.110","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,26]],"date-time":"2025-04-26T09:31:03Z","timestamp":1745659863000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association of hyperkalaemia with electrocardiographic changes at a tertiary centre in South Africa"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"3","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-7917-3792","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francis R.","family":"Ssenabulya","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05bk57929","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Stellenbosch University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9801-1300","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mogamat-Yazied","family":"Chothia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05bk57929","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Stellenbosch University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cooper LB, Savarese G, Carrero J-J, et al. Clinical and research implications of serum versus plasma potassium measurements. Eur J Heart Fail. 2019;21(4):536\u2013537. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/ejhf.1371","DOI":"10.1002\/ejhf.1371"},{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chothia M-Y, Chikte U, Zemlin A, et al. Outcomes of hospitalised patients with hyperkalaemia at a South African tertiary healthcare centre. EClinicalMedicine. 2022;50:101536. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.eclinm.2022.101536","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2022.101536"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Humphrey T, Davids MR, Chothia M-Y, Pecoits-Filho R, Pollock C, James G. How common is hyperkalaemia? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence and incidence of hyperkalaemia reported in observational studies. 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