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Updated: Dec 27, 2025
Noninvasive Electrocardiography in the Perinatal Mouse
Published on: June 12, 2020
Electrocardiographic features at rest and during exercise in young adults born preterm below 30 weeks of gestation
Anne-Sophie Gervais1, Adrien Flahault1, Tevy Chan1
1Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Insights
Young adults born preterm show no significant differences in electrocardiographic measurements compared to those born at term. Preterm birth does not appear to increase the risk of QT prolongation or necessitate avoiding QT-prolonging medications.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Neonatology
- Clinical Electrophysiology
Background:
- Preterm birth can lead to adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
- The long-term effects of preterm birth on cardiac conduction and repolarization abnormalities into adulthood remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare electrocardiographic (ECG) features in young adults born preterm versus term.
- To assess ECG parameters at rest and during exercise, including QT interval corrected (QTc).
Main Methods:
- Analyzed ECGs of young adults (born preterm <30 weeks vs. term ≥37 weeks) at rest and during exercise.
- Measured PR, QRS, and QT intervals; calculated QTc; and assessed blood electrolytes and glucose.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in ECG parameters were found between preterm and term-born young adults at rest or during exercise.
- One participant in the preterm group had a severely prolonged QTc (>500 ms) during exercise, similar to one participant in the term group.
- Use of QT-prolonging medications did not affect ECG parameters in either group.
Conclusions:
- Preterm birth is not associated with significant long-term electrocardiographic differences in young adulthood.
- Findings do not support the avoidance of QT-prolonging medications in individuals born preterm.
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:
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.This study aims to assess the differences in electrocardiographic features between young adults born term and preterm, at rest and during exercise training.In contrast with previously published data, we observed no significant difference in electrocardiographic measurements between young adults born preterm and term.Our study does not support that preterm birth itself exposes young adults to a higher risk of QT prolongation.Current results do not support avoidance of QT-prolonging medications in individuals born preterm.
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