The use of heart rate variability for the early detection of treatable complications after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Abstract

High-grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients are monitored in the ICU for up to 21 days, as they are at risk for complications such as vasospasm of cerebral arteries, cardiac arrhythmias and neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy. The diagnosis of these treatable complications is often delayed by the limitations of monitoring capabilities. We applied computational analysis to a cohort of 24 aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients, to identify heart rate variability and ECG frequency profiles that may be potential biomarkers of severe vasospasm, reversible cardiomyopathy and death.