title: P-wave dispersion is increased in pregnancy due to shortening of minimum duration of P: does this have clinical significance?
abstract: Most pregnant women complain of palpitation, and various kinds of arrhythmias can be observed during pregnancy. We investigated P-wave and QT dispersion during pregnancy. Healthy pregnant women (n=162) and healthy age-matched, non-pregnant women (n=150) were included. We performed electrocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography and determined serum oestradiol levels in both groups, and performed Holter monitoring in the pregnant group only. Resting heart rate, P-wave dispersion, left ventricular diastolic diameter, left atrial diameter and serum oestradiol levels in the pregnant group were significantly higher than in the control group. Minimum P-wave duration was shorter in the control group than in the pregnant group; however, there was no statistically significant difference in maximum P wavelength and corrected QT dispersion between the groups. No atrial fibrillation was detected in the pregnant group during Holter monitoring. Shortening of the minimum P-wave duration leads to increased P-wave dispersion during pregnancy. In contrast to other pathologies with increased P-wave dispersion, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is absent in pregnant women; this may be a result of the stable maximum P wavelength that is present during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Teaching Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. drnamikozmen@yahoo.com
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozmen
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Cebeci
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yiginer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muhcu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kardesoglu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dincturk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000502:physiology*; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006339:Heart Rate; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004958:Estradiol