Affiliations: Division of Neonatology, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA | Division of Neonatology, St. Peter's University
Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA | Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers
University College of Engineering, Piscataway, NJ 08903, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Thomas Hegyi, M.D., UMDNJ-Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School, One Robert Wood Johnson Place, MEB 312C, New Brunswick,
NJ 08903, USA. Tel.: +1 732 235 7354; Fax: +1 732 235 6609; E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: We studied the effect of gestational age, birth weight,
postmenstrual age and selected neonatal morbidities on the heart rate power
spectra in preterm infants (birth weight 1075 [840, 1230] grams, gestational
age 27 [26, 30] weeks). Age at testing was 6 (3, 11) days. Birth weight,
gestational age and postmenstrual age were positively correlated with low
frequency power (0.03–0.39 Hz) with correlation coefficients of 0.59,
0.54 and 0.53 respectively (p<0.05); high frequency power (0.4–1.0 Hz)
[r-value 0.54, 0.58 and 0.50 respectively] (p<0.05); and total power
[r-value 0.41, 0.38 and 0.41 (p<0.05) respectively]. No significant effect
on heart rate power spectra was observed for intraventricular hemorrhage,
mechanical ventilation or methylxanthine use. Our data indicates increased
heart rate variability with maturation and no major effect of the neonatal
morbidities studied at the time when infants were physiologically stable.
Keywords: Heart rate variability, power spectral analysis, preterm infants, sympathetic system, parasympathetic system
