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Poster Session 3

Category: Hypertension

Poster Session 3

(848) Changes of Electrocardiogram Parameters in Pregnancies Affected and Unaffected by Cardiovascular Dysfunctions

Thursday, February 12, 2026

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Submitting Author and Presenting Author(s)

Lihong Mo, MD, PhD

Physician
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UC Davis
Sacramento, California, United States

Coauthor(s)

AY

Arielle Yoo, BS

Electrical and Computer Engineering, UC Davis
Davis, California, United States
GA

Gizem Akildiz, MS

School of Medicine, UC Davis
Sacramento, California, United States
IE

Imo Ebong, MBBS, MS

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, UC Davis
Sacramento, California, United States
SJ

Shantanu Milind Joshi, MS

Computer Science, UC Davis
Davis, California, United States
PS

Philip Strong, MD

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UC Davis
Sacramento, California, United States
SG

Sonul Gupta, MD

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UC Davis
Sacramento, California, United States
US

Uma Srivasta, MBBS, MS

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, UC Davis
Sacramento, California, United States
HH

Herman Hedriana, MD

Physician
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UC Davis
Sacramento, California, United States
CC

Chen-Nee Chuah, PhD

Child Family Professor in Engineering
Electrical and Computer Engineering, UC Davis
Davis, California, United States

Objective:
Pregnancy induces physiologic cardiovascular adaptations, but electrocardiogram (ECG) changes remain poorly characterized. We hypothesized that cardiac volume and compliance changes alter ECG parameters throughout pregnancy, with distinct patterns in pregnancies affected by cardiovascular dysfunction. This study aims to establish trends in four ECG parameters (heart rate, PR-interval, QRS duration, and QTc) during pregnancy and compare these trends between pregnancies with and without cardiovascular complications.

Study Design:
This is a retrospective case-control study of a database that includes 26,453 ECGs on 7,637 pregnant individuals aged 18–50 (2011–2024) at a single tertiary center. After excluding patients with pre-existing cardiac morbidity or hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, 3,032 ECGs from 2,407 individuals were included to establish normative trends. Ten individuals with heart failure (pre-existing or peripartum cardiomyopathy) (Figure 1) and 13 patients with preeclampsia who had ECGs from ≥2 gestational periods (pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy, or postpartum) were separately analyzed (Figure 2).

Results:
In unaffected pregnancies, heart rate increased through the first and second trimesters, plateaued at 30–35 weeks, and declined postpartum to pre-pregnancy levels. PR-interval, QRS duration, and QTc remained stable. In contrast, patients with heart failure exhibited elevated QRS duration, QTc, and PR interval (Figure 1). Patients with preeclampsia only demonstrated elevated QTc and heart rate at 35 weeks gestational age (Figure 2).

Conclusion:
Cardiovascular dysfunction, particularly heart failure, may disrupt physiologic ECG patterns in pregnancy, manifesting as prolonged QRS and QTc. Although sample size was limited in patients with cardiovascular dysfunction, these findings suggest ECG parameters may help identify pregnancies complicated by cardiac pathology, warranting further investigation into the prognostic utility of ECG beyond clinical parameters.