title: Electrocardiographic findings in women with a recent history of pre-eclampsia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities after a pregnancy complicated by pre-eclampsia and/or syndrome of hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets (PE) and to compare the ECG characteristics, at least six months after pregnancy, between primiparous early-onset PE women with and without recurrent PE.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral centre in The Netherlands from 1996 to 2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred and fifty-eight formerly pre-eclamptic women. For our second objective, we used a subgroup of 79 primiparae with a history of early-onset PE.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained during a postpartum screening program for women with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electrocardiographic abnormalities in PE women and characteristics of the ECG in women with recurrent PE after a first pregnancy complicated by early-onset PE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ECG of 13 (2.0%), two (0.3%) and two (0.3%) former patients suggested ischemia, left ventricular hypertrophy and left atrial enlargement, respectively. Primiparae with recurrent PE in their second pregnancy differed from their counterparts with an uneventful second pregnancy by a leftward deviation of both the P- and the R-axes of 11° (p= 0.022) and 12° (p= 0.021), respectively, with a prolonged QT interval (p= 0.025).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of ECG abnormalities in women with a recent history of PE was low and did not differ appreciably from that in a large population of healthy women of comparable age. The ECGs in primiparae with a history of early-onset PE who developed recurrent PE in their second pregnancy differed slightly from women with an uneventful second pregnancy, probably related to potential confounders.
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maastricht University Medical Center, The Netherlands. philippe.hoogsteder@maastrichtuniversity.nl
authors: Philippe H J
authors: PH
authors: Hoogsteder
authors: Arnold J
authors: AJ
authors: Krüse
authors: Simone J S
authors: SJ
authors: Sep
authors: Willem R
authors: WR
authors: Dassen
authors: Anton P
authors: AP
authors: Gorgels
authors: Louis L
authors: LL
authors: Peeters
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000503:physiopathology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D017359:HELLP Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D007511:Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010298:Parity; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012008:Recurrence