Abstract
Background
Preterm birth has adverse consequences on the cardiovascular system. Whether premature birth is associated with conduction and repolarisation abnormalities past childhood and into adulthood still needs to be demonstrated.
Methods
We analyzed the ECG of young adults (23.9 ± 3.1 years) born term (≥37 weeks, n = 53) and preterm (<30 weeks, n = 49) at rest, peak exercise and 3 min into recovery during an exercise test on a cycle ergometer. We measured PR, QRS and QT intervals, calculated the corrected QT (QTc), and determined blood calcium, magnesium, potassium and fasting glucose.
Results
Mean gestational age was 39.7 ± 1.1 and 27.3 ± 1.3 weeks for the term and the preterm groups, respectively. Apart from an increased heart rate at rest in individuals born preterm, no significant difference was found between both groups for any other ECG parameters at rest. None of the participants had a severely prolonged QTc (>500 ms) at rest; exercise revealed severely prolonged QTc in two participants including one in the preterm group. The use of QT-prolonging medications did not influence ECG parameters in either groups.
Conclusions
We observed no significant difference in electrocardiographic measurements between young adults born preterm and term. Current results do not support avoidance of QT-prolonging medications in individuals born preterm.
Impact
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Preterm birth is associated with adverse cardiovascular consequences in early adulthood, but controversial evidence exists regarding differences in electrocardiographic features between young individuals born term and preterm.
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This study aims to assess the differences in electrocardiographic features between young adults born term and preterm, at rest and during exercise training.
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In contrast with previously published data, we observed no significant difference in electrocardiographic measurements between young adults born preterm and term.
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Our study does not support that preterm birth itself exposes young adults to a higher risk of QT prolongation.
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Current results do not support avoidance of QT-prolonging medications in individuals born preterm.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the participants and their families, and the CHU Sainte-Justine research nurses.
Funding
This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR 133572 to Dr Nuyt and Dr Luu), the Heart and Stroke Foundation Grant-in-Aid (to Dr Nuyt and Dr Luu), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (to Dr Nuyt) and the Fondation CHU Sainte-Justine (to Dr Nuyt), a Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) salary award to Dr Luu, a FRQS/Fondation des Étoiles fellowship award to Dr Flahault.
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T.M.L. and A.M.N. conceived and designed the study and obtained the funding. All authors collected the data. A.S.G., A.F., T.C., S.A. and A.M.N. designed and performed the analysis. All authors drafted the manuscript, approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03261609.
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The authors declare no competing interests.
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All participants agreed to be part of this study by giving a written informed consent.
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Gervais, AS., Flahault, A., Chan, T. et al. Electrocardiographic features at rest and during exercise in young adults born preterm below 30 weeks of gestation. Pediatr Res 88, 305–311 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-0814-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-0814-9
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