Dispersion durations of P-wave and QT interval in children treated with a ketogenic diet.
BACKGROUND
Limited data are available on the effects of a ketogenic diet on dispersion duration of P-wave and QT-interval measures in children. We searched for the changes in these measures with serial electrocardiograms in patients treated with a ketogenic diet.


METHODS
Twenty-five drug-resistant patients with epilepsy treated with a ketogenic diet were enrolled in this study. Electrocardiography was performed in all patients before the beginning and at the sixth month after implementation of the ketogenic diet. Heart rate, maximum and minimum P-wave duration, P-wave dispersion, and maximum and minimum corrected QT interval and QT dispersion were manually measured from the 12-lead surface electrocardiogram.


RESULTS
Minimum and maximum corrected QT and QT dispersion measurements showed nonsignificant increase at month 6 compared with baseline values. Other previously mentioned electrocardiogram parameters also showed no significant changes.


CONCLUSIONS
A ketogenic diet of 6 months' duration has no significant effect on electrocardiogram parameters in children. Further studies with larger samples and longer duration of follow-up are needed to clarify the effects of ketogenic diet on P-wave dispersion and corrected QT and QT dispersion.
Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Izmir Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey. Electronic address: doksozonder@yahoo.com.
Önder
Ö
Doksöz
Department of Pediatric Neurology, Izmir Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
Orkide
O
Güzel
Department of Pediatric Neurology, Izmir Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
Ünsal
Ü
Yılmaz
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Izmir Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
Rana
R
Işgüder
Department of Pediatrics, Izmir Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
Kübra
K
Çeleğen
Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Izmir Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
Timur
T
Meşe
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D055423:Diet, Ketogenic; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
P-wave dispersion; QT dispersion; corrected QT; ketogenic diet