Neonatal autonomic function after pregnancy complications and early cardiovascular development.
Aye CYL., Lewandowski AJ., Oster J., Upton R., Davis E., Kenworthy Y., Boardman H., Yu GZ., Siepmann T., Adwani S., McCormick K., Sverrisdottir YB., Leeson P.
BACKGROUND: Heart rate variability (HRV) has emerged as a predictor of later cardiac risk. This study tested whether pregnancy complications that may have long-term offspring cardiac sequelae are associated with differences in HRV at birth, and whether these HRV differences identify abnormal cardiovascular development in the postnatal period. METHODS: Ninety-eight sleeping neonates had 5-min electrocardiogram recordings at birth. Standard time and frequency domain parameters were calculated and related to cardiovascular measures at birth and 3 months of age. RESULTS: Increasing prematurity, but not maternal hypertension or growth restriction, was associated with decreased HRV at birth, as demonstrated by a lower root mean square of the difference between adjacent NN intervals (rMSSD) and low (LF) and high-frequency power (HF), with decreasing gestational age (p