In a nutshell
This paper studied how pregnancy and pre-eclampsia affects heart function.
Some background
Pre-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy where there is increased blood pressure and damage to an organ, usually the kidney. It is also associated with increased risk of heart disease and stroke in the mother. Assessing heart function after pregnancy is critical to identify mothers at greater risk of heart failure. The heart can be assessed by electrocardiography (ECG), which measures electrical activity of the heart.
Methods & findings
The current study examined whether pregnancy and pre-eclampsia led to changes on ECG following pregnancy.
15 women who were not pregnant, 20 women with uncomplicated pregnancy and 20 women with recent pre-eclampsia were recruited in the study. ECG recordings were measured.
Heart rate variability (variation in time of heartbeats) was measured. A reduced variability indicates mortality risk. In women with uncomplicated pregnancy, reduced heart-rate variability levels returned to normal levels after 6-8 months. In women with pre-eclampsia, heart-rate variability remained reduced compared to women who were never pregnant.
A long P wave duration indicates a slowing of conduction through the heart. Women who were never pregnant had an average 2.2 ms longer P-wave than women who had pre-eclampsia after 6-8 months. Women with uncomplicated pregnancy had P-wave durations that were an average 6.1 ms shorter that women who had pre-eclampsia after 6-8 months.
A long QRS complex indicates some abnormal conduction of the heart. Women who were never pregnant had an average 8.8 ms shorter QRS duration than women with pre-eclampsia. Women with uncomplicated pregnancy had an average 10.7 ms shorter QRS duration than women with pre-eclampsia after 6-8 months.
The bottom line
These results suggested that women with pre-eclampsia had increased heart activity, and that there was delayed heart conduction in women after pre-eclampsia.The authors concluded that identifying abnormalities on ECG soon after pregnancy in women with a history of pre-eclampsia could be useful to identify those at risk of heart disease.
The fine print
A small number of women were studied.
Published By :
PLOS ONE
Date :
Sep 25, 2015
