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Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Children With Severe Cyanotic Breath-Holding Spells

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, University of Connecticut, Farmington, Connecticut Children's Medical Center Hartford, CT

Lance Bauer, PhD

Department of Psychiatry at The University of Connecticut, Farmington

Jana Volpe, BA

Department of Psychiatry at The University of Connecticut, Farmington

David Baxter, BS

Department of Psychiatry at The University of Connecticut, Farmington

In this study we sought to investigate parasympathetic activity among children with severe cyanotic breath-holding spells by examining respiratory sinus arrhythmia. The study sample was composed of two groups of patients, 16 subjects with cyanotic breath-holding spells (5 male, 11 female; mean age, 37.5 mo) and 17 controls (8 male, 9 female; mean age, 37.7 mo). Each subject's electrocardiogram was recorded in a quiet room and digitized by an 80386 personal computer during five 1-minute periods. R—R intervals within each 1-minute period were converted to heart rate in 120 successive 0.5-second intervals. The resultant heartrate time series was converted to its underlying frequency composition by a fast Fourier transform and averaged across minutes. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia was defined as the variability in the time series over a frequency range (0.096-0.48 Hz) corresponding to a range of respiratory rates from 6 to 30 breaths per minute. Analysis revealed after ANCOVA adjustment for age and gender with subject group and frequency bin as dependent measures, that subjects with cyanotic breath-holding spells had similar variability in their heart rates as did controls (group x frequency bin: F = 0.74, P = 0.71). This study supports the hypothesis that autonomic dysregulation in cyanotic breath-holding spells is not due to a primary disturbance in central parasympathetic control over cardiac rate and rhythm. (J Child Neurol 1997;12:260-262).

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 12, No. 4, 260-262 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/088307389701200408


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