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QT prolongation in the newborn and maternal alcoholism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2005

Thomas Krasemann
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatric Cardiology, University Children’s Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany

Abstract

I discuss a newborn whose mother is addicted to alcohol. On the third day of life, the newborn was found to have ventricular tachycardia. After spontaneous termination of the abnormal rhythm, the duration of the corrected QT interval was 0.48 s. During the next days, the duration of the interval normalized, and has now remained stable for 5 years. I conclude that the so-called “alcohol withdrawal syndrome of the newborn” might cause postnatal prolongation of the QT interval.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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