Reproductive sciences
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Reproductive sciences · Jul 2008
ECG and heart rate variability changes in preterm and near-term fetal lamb following LPS exposure.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the myocardial response in the preterm and near-term fetal lamb with infection. Chronically instrumented fetal lambs were exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the fetal electrocardiogram (FECG) ST waveform was examined using STAN. Fetal heart rate variability (FHRV) was automatically analyzed by adapting a polynomial function to the RR sequence in the FECG. ⋯ Similar changes were not observed in the near-term fetuses after LPS. The study shows that preterm lambs are more sensitive to LPS in terms of myocardial/cardiovascular response than the more mature fetuses are. High FHRV and negative ST waveform seem to characterize the LPS-induced stress response in preterm fetuses.