QT Dispersion in Young, Ideal, and Old Aged Pregnancies

Background:: Obstetricians regard maternal age of 20 to 35 years as the optimal age for pregnancy. Adolescent pregnancy and pregnancy at the ages of 35 years and above are associated with higher risks. Pregnancy is pro-arrhythmic and rarely precipitates ventricular arrhythmias.

Objectives:: QT dispersion is an index of heterogeneity of ventricular repolarization and a predictor of propensity of ventricular arrhythmias. In this study, this index was used to find any relationship between maternal age and ventricular arrhythmia risk.

Methods:: This study was performed among a group of healthy pregnant ladies between 36 and 40 weeks of gestation. An ECG was taken from each patient. QT dispersions were calculated on a computer screen with high magnitude. The results were then divided into three groups based on the age of the participants. The first, second, and third groups included the women below 20, between 20 and 35, and over 35 years, respectively. The three groups were compared using Kruskal-Wallis test.

Results:: The mean QTd was 61.77 ms (± 16.61) in the first group, 64.15 ms (± 18.65) in the second group, and 55.95 ms (± 23.04) in the third group. Although QTd was prolonged in all, no significant difference was observed among the three groups regarding QTd.

Conclusions:: Our results showed QT prolongation in pregnancy, but showed that maternal age did not affect the heterogeneity of ventricular repolarization and propensity of ventricular arrhythmias in pregnancy.