RESEARCH ARTICLE VARIATIONS IN ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY OF THE HEART AS THE PREGNANCY PROGRESSES

Background: Pregnancy is a physiological condition that brings a considerable alteration in hemodynamic activity of the maternal heart. It is very important to understand the cardiac functioning of maternal heart during normal pregnancy because apart from obstetric causes, cardiac disorders are the main cause of mortality in females.Study of electrical activity of the heart is a simple noninvasive and cost effective method which can also raise alarm about the pathological changes in the cardiac function. Aims & Objective: To study the intervals of Electrocardiogram (ECG) in pregnant women and to compare the same with healthy non pregnant women. Materials and Methods: A total of 223 females fulfilling the inclusion criteria were recruited for the study. They were divided into four groups- nonpregnant/control group (n=30), 1st trimester (n=36), 2nd trimester (n=64) and 3rd trimester (n = 93). ECG was recorded in lead II. Heart rate, PR, QT interval and QTc were also calculated. These parameters were compared between the groups using one way ANOVA test. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: An increase in heart rate and QTc interval and decrease in PR interval wa