title: Effects of lying position on P-wave dispersion in patients with heart failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It was the aim of this study to investigate the effects of the right lateral decubitus, left lateral decubitus and supine lying position on P-wave dispersion (PWD) in patients with heart failure (HF).
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen patients with HF whose ejection fraction was <35% were included in the study. Right lateral decubitus, left lateral decubitus and supine electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings were obtained. The recordings for each of the three positions were taken after the patients had maintained each position for 30 min to ensure a stabilized hemodynamic position. For the baseline recording, in supine position, there was no 30-min waiting period before the ECG.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After the right lateral decubitus position, there was a statistically significant reduction in the longest P-wave duration (100.0 ± 14.5 and 84.7 ± 16.2 ms; p = 0.001) and a significant decrease in PWD (41.7 ± 8.0 and 24.1 ± 7.1 ms; p < 0.0001). After the left lateral decubitus position, there was no significant change between the baseline PWD values (41.7 ± 8.0 and 40.2 ± 9.7 ms; p = 0.606). After the supine position, there was no significant change between the baseline PWD values (41.7 ± 8.0 and 39.7 ± 9.4 ms; p = 0.427).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study revealed that patients' PWDs and maximum P-wave durations were lower in the right lateral decubitus lying position than in other positions. The clinical implication of this study needs to be further explored.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dumlupinar University School of Medicine, Kutahya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muhammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oylumlu
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: Orhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozer
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuce
authors.forename: Suleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ercan
authors.forename: Vedat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Davutoglu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged