| Abstract: | Atrial fibrillation (AF), which is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, may cause serious symptoms and impair quality of life.1 The development of AF is associated with many risk factors, including age, male gender, hypertension, heart failure, valvular disease, diabetes mellitus (DM) and left atrial (LA) enlargement.2-4 Electrical and/or mechanical remodelling of the atria is thought to be a pathophysiological characteristic of AF.5The pregnant state may be pro-dysrhythmic. This is related to the cardiovascular, hormonal, haemodynamic and autonomic changes during healthy pregnancy. Levels of oestrogen and β-human chorionic gonadotropin increase dramatically. Haemodynamic changes include an increase in circulating blood volume, which increases cardiac output. This results in myocardial stretch and an increase in cardiac end-diastolic volume. High plasma catecholamine concentrations and adrenergic receptor sensitivity increase sympathetic tone. All these changes in pregnant women may make them more prone to dysrhythmogenesis.6Most pregnant women complain of palpitations, dizziness and even syncope, but these symptoms are rarely associated with cardiac dysrhythmias. AF is the most common clinically significant cardiac arrhythmia in the general population but it is rarely seen in pregnant women. When it occurs, it can represent a benign, self-limited lone episode of AF or may be secondary to congenital or rheumatic valvular disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, thyroid disease, or pre-excitation syndrome.Two simple electrocardiogram (ECG) markers, namely maximum P-wave duration (Pmax) and P-wave dispersion (PD), have been used to evaluate intra- and inter-atrial conduction times and the inhomogeneous propagation of sinus impulses, which are well-known electrophysiological characteristics of the atrium prone to fibrillation.7,8 Prolonged Pmax and PD have been reported to represent an increased risk for AF in patients with no underlying heart disease.7,8 Besides, evidence from laboratory and epidemiological research suggests that systemic inflammation may play a role in AF aetiology.9 It has also been demonstrated that atrial electromechanical coupling, measured by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), as significantly longer in patients with paroxysmal AF than in control groups.10,11To our knowledge, no study evaluating PD and atrial electromechanical coupling has been investigated in pregnant subjects without additional systemic disease. Therefore, in this study we aimed to examine atrial electromechanical coupling and PD, reflecting inter-atrial conduction times in pregnant subjects. |
