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Abnormal heart rate response to hypercapnia in boys with an apparent life‐threatening event
Author(s) -
Edner A,
Ericson M,
Milerad J,
KatzSalamon M
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2002.tb02827.x
Subject(s) - medicine , sudden infant death syndrome , hypercapnia , heart rate variability , heart rate , anesthesia , cardiology , pediatrics , respiratory system , blood pressure
Aim : To determine instantaneous cardiac variability responses to increased carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) during quiet sleep in infants who may be at risk for the Sudden Infant Death syndrome (SIDS). Methods : The cardiac rate variability before, during and after a CO 2 challenge was examined in 41 infants who had experienced an apparent life‐threatening event (ALTE) and 41 gender‐ and age‐matched control infants. Results : The ALTE infants responded to CO 2 breathing with a significant increase in R‐R intervals, i.e. decreases in heart rate, compared to the controls (45.1% increase in R‐R intervals vs. 41.4%; p = 0.005). The differences between ALTE infants and controls depended primarily on the boys' responses. Conclusion : ALTE infants, particularly ALTE boys, have an autonomic dysfunction—lower sympathetic stimulation and/or inhibited vagal withdrawal when stressed with CO 2 . The outcome might provide clues to the mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular processes contributing to the terminal event in SIDS.