Heart rate variability in normal sleeping full-term and preterm neonates.

To assess maturation of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) and sleep states, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was studied in 24 healthy sleeping newborns, aged from 31 to 41 weeks, conceptional age (CA). Spectral analysis of the interbeat interval (RR) signal, was performed by Short-Time Fourier Transform, in three frequency bands: high (HF), of purely vagal origin, mid (MF), and low (LF), vagal and sympathetic, thus allowing evaluation of both branches of the ANS, observed in Active Sleep (AS = REM Sleep) and in Quiet Sleep (QS = nREM Sleep). Principal Component Analysis, Discriminant Analysis, and hypothesis tests were used to investigate the evolution of spectral variables and their relation with sleep states. HF, MF, LF, and mean RR all increased with age; the differences from the premature to the full-term group, were more marked, as a whole, in AS than in QS. HF showed the highest increase from the premature (31-36 weeks CA) to the intermediate (37-38) group, whereas LF showed equal differences from the premature to the intermediate, and from the intermediate to the full-term (39-41) groups. These results suggest a steep increase in vagal tone at 37-38 weeks CA, with stability afterwards, and a more regular increase in sympathetic tone from 31 to 41 weeks CA.

[1]  C. I. Franks,et al.  Respiratory and heart rate patterns in infants destined to be victims of sudden infant death syndrome: average rates and their variability measured over 24 hours. , 1985, British medical journal.

[2]  P. Katona,et al.  Maturation of cardiac control in full-term and preterm infants during sleep. , 1980, Early human development.

[3]  D. Giddens,et al.  Heart Rate Variability Analysis in Full-Term Infants: Spectral Indices for Study of Neonatal Cardiorespiratory Control , 1989, Pediatric Research.

[4]  Howard J Hoffman,et al.  Spectral Analysis Assessment of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Normal Infants and Infants Who Subsequently Died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome , 1988, Pediatric Research.

[5]  G. McLachlan.  ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF AN ALLOCATION RULE , 1986 .

[6]  D. Adam,et al.  Assessment of autonomic function in humans by heart rate spectral analysis. , 1985, The American journal of physiology.

[7]  H. Hoffman,et al.  Heart rate variation in normal infants and victims of the sudden infant death syndrome. , 1989, Early human development.

[8]  B. Sayers,et al.  Analysis of heart rate variability. , 1973, Ergonomics.

[9]  H. Witte,et al.  Differentiation of healthy newborns and newborns-at-risk by spectral analysis of heart rate fluctuations and respiratory movements. , 1987, Early human development.

[10]  M Mäkelä,et al.  Heart rate variability in infants subsequently suffering sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). , 1990, Early human development.

[11]  Jae S. Lim,et al.  Advanced topics in signal processing , 1987 .

[12]  Thomas F. Quatieri,et al.  Short-time Fourier transform , 1987 .

[13]  I Välimäki,et al.  Interaction of Heart Rate and Respiration in Newborn Babies , 1988, Pediatric Research.

[14]  Shaw-Jyh Shin,et al.  Assessment of autonomic regulation of heart rate variability by the method of complex demodulation , 1989, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[15]  I. Välimäki,et al.  Regulation of Heart Rate Variation by the Autonomic Nervous System in Neonatal Lambs , 1990, Pediatric Research.

[16]  R. Cohen,et al.  Power spectrum analysis of heart rate fluctuation: a quantitative probe of beat-to-beat cardiovascular control. , 1981, Science.

[17]  Hugh A. Carithers,et al.  Human Growth: A Comprehensive Treatise , 1987 .

[18]  R I Kitney,et al.  Neonatal heart rate variability and its relation to respiration. , 1985, Journal of theoretical biology.

[19]  Ronald M Harper,et al.  Development of Heart Rate Variation Over the First 6 Months of Life in Normal Infants , 1989, Pediatric Research.

[20]  Adrian J. Wilson,et al.  Analysis of Heart Rate and Respiratory Patterns in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Victims and Control Infants , 1986, Pediatric Research.

[21]  R M Harper,et al.  Correlations between cardiorespiratory measures in normal infants and victims of sudden infant death syndrome. , 1990, Sleep.

[22]  R. Cohen,et al.  Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Abnormalities in Short Term Fluctuations in Heart Rate and Respiratory Activity , 1984, Pediatric Research.

[23]  P. Peirano,et al.  Development of sleep states in normal premature and full-term newborns. , 1988, Developmental psychobiology.

[24]  R. Harper,et al.  Machine classification of infant sleep state using cardiorespiratory measures. , 1987, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[25]  M K Hathorn,et al.  Respiratory sinus arrhythmia in new‐born infants. , 1987, The Journal of physiology.

[26]  F R Calaresu,et al.  Influence of cardiac neural inputs on rhythmic variations of heart period in the cat. , 1975, The American journal of physiology.

[27]  D. O. Walter,et al.  Development of sinus arrhythmia during sleeping and waking states in normal infants. , 1978, Sleep.

[28]  A. Rosenblueth,et al.  THE INTERRELATIONS OF VAGAL AND ACCELERATOR EFFECTS ON THE CARDIAC RATE , 1934 .

[29]  H. Luczak,et al.  An analysis of heart rate variability. , 1973, Ergonomics.

[30]  P G Katona,et al.  Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: noninvasive measure of parasympathetic cardiac control. , 1975, Journal of applied physiology.

[31]  M. Hathorn.  Respiratory modulation of heart rate in newborn infants. , 1989, Early human development.

[32]  W. Krzanowski.  The Performance of Fisher's Linear Discriminant Function Under Non-Optimal Conditions , 1977 .

[33]  J. Hirsch,et al.  Respiratory sinus arrhythmia in humans: how breathing pattern modulates heart rate. , 1981, The American journal of physiology.