CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Vol 22, No 2, March/April 2011
AFRICA
75
Conclusion
This study has provided data on the common cardiovascular and
ECG findings in healthy pregnant women in Nigeria. The most
common findings on physical examination were low diastolic
blood pressure and systolic ejection murmur. There were also
some distinctive ECG features, which may help to differentiate
cardiac disease in pregnancy from normal cardiac findings in our
practice area. In the pregnant Nigerian woman, normal frontal-
plane QRS axis, normal PR interval and ST segment arising
from the isoelectric line are more or less the rule. LVH based
on Araoye RI
>
12 mm could be seen in a few others, while all
forms of arrhythmia were rare.
The authors express their gratitude to all patients for their consent and
cooperation. We thank all the residents in the Departments of Medicine and
Obstetrics and Gynaecology for their contributions to the successful comple-
tion of the study. We are also grateful to the two ECG technicians in the
cardiology unit of the hospital, Mrs Oyekale and Mrs Iyiola, as well as Mrs
Bose Olaniyan, the chief nursing officer, for their invaluable contributions.
We acknowledge the role of Mr Adeola Ayileka and Mr Peter Awosanmi
of the Malaria Research Unit in the study. Finally, we are grateful to Mr
Bonaventure Makinde of the Department of Radiology, College of Health
Sciences, Lautech for regular secretarial assistance.
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Diary for 2011 cardiovascular congresses
DATE
PLACE
CONFERENCE
WEBSITE
4–5 May
Tel Aviv, Israel
58th annual conference of the Israel Heart Society in associa-
tion with the Israeli Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery
21–24 May
Gothenburg, Sweden
Heart Failure congress 2011
/
27–30 May
Kampala, Uganda
10th Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR) congress
22 June
Frankfurt, Germany
Imaging in Cardiovascular Interventions (ICI)
27–31 August
Paris, France
European Society of Cardiology congress (ESC)
29 September –
1 October
Sri Lanka
Asia Pacific Stroke conference
23–26 October
International Convention
Centre, East London,
South Africa
SA Heart congress
12–16 November Orlando, Florida, USA American Heart Association (AHA)
