Cardiac arrhythmias six months following traumatic spinal cord injury
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Objective
To investigate the incidence of cardiac arrhythmias at six months following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) and to compare the prevalence of arrhythmias between participants with cervical and thoracic SCI.
Design
A prospective observational study using continuous twenty-four-hour Holter monitoring.
Setting
Inpatient rehabilitation unit of a university research hospital and patient home setting.
Participants
Fifty-five participants with acute traumatic SCI were prospectively included. For each participant, the SCI was characterized according to the International Standards for Neurological Classification of SCI by the neurological level and severity according to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale.
Outcome measures
Comparisons between demographic characteristics and arrhythmogenic occurrences as early as possible after SCI (4 ± 2 days) followed by 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks and 6 month time points of Holter monitoring.
Results
Bradycardia (heart rate [HR] <50 bpm) was present in 29% and 33% of the participants with cervical (C1–C8) and thoracic (T1–T12) SCI six months after SCI, respectively. The differences in episodes of bradycardia between the two groups were not significant (P < 0.54). The mean maximum HR increased significantly from 4 weeks to 6 months post-SCI (P < 0.001), however mean minimum and maximum HR were not significantly different between the groups at the six-month time point. There were no differences in many arrhythmias between recording periods or between groups at six months.
Conclusions
At the six-month timepoint following traumatic SCI, there were no significant differences in occurrences of arrhythmias between participants with cervical and thoracic SCI compared to the findings observed in the first month following SCI.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 4 |
Pages (from-to) | 631-637 |
ISSN | 1079-0268 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Links
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9246248/
Final published version
ID: 274614865