Document Detail


PR interval: a comparison of electrical and mechanical methods in the fetus.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  16828991     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: Mechanical surrogates are used to assess fetal cardiac electrical activity. AIMS: To compare electrical PR interval measured using non-invasive fetal electrocardiography (fECG) with mechanical atrioventricular (AV) interval using Doppler. STUDY DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: Prospective study of 55 recordings made in 50 human fetuses. Those with structural heart defects, second degree or complete heart block were excluded. OUTCOME MEASURES: Mechanical AV interval was measured from the onset of mitral A wave to onset of aortic ejection. Electrical PR interval was measured from a coherent averaged signal obtained using non-invasive fECG recorded from the maternal abdomen. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare both methods. Agreement between AV and PR intervals was assessed using linear regression and by Bland-Altman plots. Bland-Altman analysis assessed inter-observer and intra-observer variability. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the heart rates of the 55 paired traces measured consecutively using both methods (p<0.35). AV interval was longer than PR (median [range] 116 [96-169] vs. 102 [75-143] ms; p<0.001), with mean difference -16.47 ms (95% Confidence Interval -43.43, 10.44), reflecting the increased proportion of the cardiac cycle measured. Using fECG, PR inter-observer and intra-observer mean differences were 0.4 ms (CI -7.29, 8.09) and 0.7 ms (CI -3.22, 4.62) respectively. R values for inter and intra-observer studies were 0.95 and 0.99 respectively. Using Doppler methods, AV inter-observer and intra-observer mean differences were -2.69 ms, (CI -15.33, 9.95) and 0.92 ms, (CI -9.41, 11.26) respectively. R values for AV measurements were 0.93 for inter-observer and 0.96 for intra-observer variation. CONCLUSIONS: Non-invasive fECG is a robust tool to measure the PR interval with narrow limits of agreement.
Authors:
Lucia Pasquini; Anna N Seale; Cristian Belmar; Salome Oseku-Afful; Matthew J Thomas; Myles J O Taylor; Michael Roughton; Helena M Gardiner
Publication Detail:
Type:  Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2006-07-10
Journal Detail:
Title:  Early human development     Volume:  83     ISSN:  0378-3782     ISO Abbreviation:  Early Hum. Dev.     Publication Date:  2007 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2007-03-26     Completed Date:  2007-06-14     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7708381     Medline TA:  Early Hum Dev     Country:  Ireland    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  231-7     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, London, UK.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Cardiotocography / methods*
Electrocardiography*
Female
Fetus / physiology*
Heart Rate, Fetal
Humans
Pregnancy

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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