The Impact of Maternal Age on the Neonatal Electrocardiogram

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have suggested an increased prevalence of congenital heart disease among children born to women aged ≥35 years. In recent decades, the mother’s age at childbirth has increased dramatically in industrialized countries. It has not been investigated if increasing maternal age affects the neonatal cardiac electrical system. Methods: The Copenhagen Baby Heart Study is a prospective general population study that performed cardiac evaluation in newborns. Electrocardiograms were analysed with a computerized algorithm. Echocardiograms were obtained using a standardised protocol. Findings: We included 16,518 newborns with normal echocardiograms (median age at examination 11 days; range 0-30 days; 52% boys). Median maternal age at delivery was 31 years; 790 newborns were born to mothers aged between 16-24 years, 11,403 between 25-34 years, 4,279 between 35-44 years, and 46 newborns had mothers aged between 45-54 years. The QRS axis and maximum R-wave amplitude in V1 (R-V1) differed across the four maternal age groups (both p 0.05). Interpretation: We observed a significant association between maternal age and the neonatal QRS axis and R-V1. However, the absolute differences were relatively small and maternal age is unlikely to have a clinical significant effect on the neonatal cardiac electrical system. Funding: The Danish Heart Foundation, The Danish Children Heart Foundation, Snedkermester Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: This study was approved by the Regional Ethics Committee (H-16001518) and the Danish Data Protection Agency (Isuite 04546, HGH-2016-53)