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Cardiac Autonomic Control Impairment in Infants with Transient Hypertonia and Psychomotor Retardation
Author(s) -
Cardenas Claudia Andrea Melipillan,
Arce Alexis,
Andrade David,
Del Rio Rodrigo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.lb461
Subject(s) - hypertonia , psychomotor learning , medicine , psychomotor retardation , physical medicine and rehabilitation , cardiology , transient (computer programming) , audiology , anesthesia , cognition , psychiatry , computer science , alternative medicine , pathology , operating system
Transient hypertonia (TH) in early life is characterized by an increased muscular tone, postural restriction and decreased movement, all resulting in psychomotor retardation. Abnormalities of tone are an integral component of many transient or chronic motor disorders of childhood. Alterations in the concentration of several metabolites during changes in muscular tone may occur in infants with TH. Importantly, these metabolites have been shown to regulate cardiovascular function through the activation of the metaboreflex then regulating the activity of central sympathetic neurons that ultimately lead to cardiac adjustments through the modulation of autonomic function. Accordingly, we aimed to determine if TH infants showed alterations in cardiac autonomic control. Thirty subjects aged 0–24 months were recruited and allocated into 2 different groups: control (n=15), TH group (n=15) according to their neurological examination. Non‐invasive measurements of cardiac autonomic function were assessed by linear and nonlinear analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Compared to control healthy infants, TH group displayed higher resting heart rate values (129.93 ± 43.47 bpm vs 143.40 ± 9.93 bpm, Control vs TH, respectively; p<0.05) and showed overt signs of autonomic imbalance. Indeed, TH group displayed a significant increase in the low to high frequency ratio of the HRV compared to control (4,41 ± 1,78 vs. 7,54 ± 3,93; Control vs TH, respectively; p<0.05). Importantly, HRV in TH group infants were characterized by a shift in the spectral components towards sympathetic predominance as evidenced by a significant increase in the low frequency spectral component of the HRV (80,31 ± 4,84 vs. 86,03 ± 6,17 n.u., Control vs. TH, respectively; p<0.05). Also, parasympathetic withdrawal was evident in TH infants compared to healthy control since a TH infants showed a marked reduction in the high frequency components of the HRV compared to the values obtained in healthy control subjects (20,06 ± 4,39 vs. 13,97 ± 6,17 n.u., Control vs Hypertonia, respectively; p<0.05). Together, our results showed for the first time that infants with TH display cardiac autonomic imbalance. Support or Funding Information Supported by Fondecyt 1140275Fixation of Polar ® V800For recording of HR and position child and parent and/or caregiver during measurementThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .