• An N Massaro, Heather E Campbell, Marina Metzler, Tareq Al-Shargabi, Yunfei Wang, Adre du Plessis, and Rathinaswamy B Govindan.
• 1Division of Neonatology, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC. 2Division of Fetal and Transitional Medicine, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC. 3Pediatric Residency Program, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC. 4Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC. 5The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington DC.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2017 Apr 1; 18 (4): 349-354.

ObjectiveTo determine whether measures of heart rate variability are related to changes in temperature during rewarming after therapeutic hypothermia for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.DesignProspective observational study.SettingLevel 4 neonatal ICU in a free-standing academic children's hospital.PatientsForty-four infants with moderate to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy treated with therapeutic hypothermia.InterventionsContinuous electrocardiogram data from 2 hours prior to rewarming through 2 hours after completion of rewarming (up to 10 hr) were analyzed.Measurements And Main ResultsMedian beat-to-beat interval and measures of heart rate variability were quantified including beat-to-beat interval SD, low and high frequency relative spectral power, detrended fluctuation analysis short and long α exponents (αS and αL), and root mean square short and long time scales. The relationships between heart rate variability measures and esophageal/axillary temperatures were evaluated. Heart rate variability measures low frequency, αS, and root mean square short and long time scales were negatively associated, whereas αL was positively associated, with temperature (p < 0.01). These findings signify an overall decrease in heart rate variability as temperature increased toward normothermia.ConclusionsMeasures of heart rate variability are temperature dependent in the range of therapeutic hypothermia to normothermia. Core body temperature needs to be considered when evaluating heart rate variability metrics as potential physiologic biomarkers of illness severity in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy infants undergoing therapeutic hypothermia.

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