Abstract
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in later life. The regularity mechanism of cardiovascular system is under the control of autonomic nervous system (ANS). The non-optimal fetal growth may alter the development of the ANS and this appears to persist in later life. The aim of the present work is to analyse the synergic activity of the ANS in normal and growth restricted children. Heart rate variability analysis from 24 h ECG recordings of 70 children between 9 and 10 years old, normal and IUGR was performed using linear and non-linear time series analysis techniques. The HRV parameters showed no significant difference between normal and IUGR children. Low birth weight and its association with development of the cardiovascular system and its control have been extensively studied. In order to investigate the effect of low birth weight on HRV parameters, the IUGR children were further divided into two groups: IUGR-1 (birth weight<2.50 kg) and IUGR-2 (birth weight≥2.50 kg). The results demonstrated that most of the HRV measures showed significant differences between normal versus IUGR-1 as well as IUGR-1 versus IUGR-2 groups. The effect of gender on HRV measures was also examined and we noticed that girls had lower HRV than boys.
Highlights
Fetal growth restriction, known as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), complicates 3% to 10% of all pregnancies
The frequency domain Heart rate variability (HRV) measures LF, HF and LF/HF were significantly smaller in IUGR-I than both normal (p=0.0217, p=0.0321 and p=0.0384 respectively) but LF and HF were significantly smaller between IUGR-1 Vs
The direct comparison of HRV parameters between normal and IUGR children showed no significant difference between the two groups
Summary
Known as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), complicates 3% to 10% of all pregnancies. Low birth weight (LBW), premature birth and small for gestational age (SGA) are the markers to monitor intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and adverse prenatal outcomes [8]. An infant born less than 37 weeks from first day of menstrual period regardless of birth weight is preterm, whereas the growth retarded infants are characterized by their biometric dimension < 10th percentile for a given gestational age[12]. Geva et al (2006) evaluated the effect of late onset of intrauterine growth restriction on neuropsychological profile and academic achievements at 9 years of age [11]. They found that IUGR children had lower quotient of intelligence and more frequent neuropsychological difficulties
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