Abstract
In an unselected population of 2030 newborn infants studied by electrocardiography (ECG) between April 1975 and April 1977, 35 were found to have arrhythmias or other cardiac conduction abnormalities. Further investigation by means of 24-hour ECG monitoring showed that apparently serious tachyarrhythmias, such as ventricular tachycardia and slow heart rates associated with sinoatrial block, may be present without clinical disturbance in some newborn babies. Six infants had both bradycardia and tachycardia in the 24-hour recording, although the screening ECG had shown only one of these abnormalities. The alarming ECG appearance of some of the arrhythmias suggested a possible aetiological link with some unexplained sudden infant deaths: a multicentre study could determine this more readily and is therefore recommended.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Guilleminault C., Ariagno R., Souquet M., Dement W. C. Abnormal polygraphic findings in near-miss sudden infant death. Lancet. 1976 Jun 19;1(7973):1326–1327. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)92656-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MICHAELSSON M. Electrocardiographic studies in the healthy newborn. Acta Paediatr Suppl. 1959 Apr 11;48(Suppl 117):108–116. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Radford D. J., Izukawa T., Rowe R. D. Congenital paroxysmal atrial tachycardia. Arch Dis Child. 1976 Aug;51(8):613–617. doi: 10.1136/adc.51.8.613. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Radford D. J., Izukawa T., Rowe R. D. Evaluation of children with ventricular arrhythmias. Arch Dis Child. 1977 May;52(5):345–353. doi: 10.1136/adc.52.5.345. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SHORT D. S. The syndrome of alternating bradycardia and tachycardia. Br Heart J. 1954 Apr;16(2):208–214. doi: 10.1136/hrt.16.2.208. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Southall D. P., Vulliamy D. G., Davies M. J., Anderson R. H., Shinebourne E. A., Johnson A. M. A new look at the neonatal electrocardiogram. Br Med J. 1976 Sep 11;2(6036):615–618. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6036.615. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]