| Title | Heart Rate Variation in Full-Term Newborn Infants: I. Use of a Small, Special-Purpose Computer |
| Author(s) | I. Valimaki |
| Source | Biology of the Neonate, Vol. 18, No. 1, Pages 129-139 |
| Publication Date | 1971 |
| Abstract | Ten minute ECG tracings and CO2 respirograms were monitored during the first 5 days of life in 30 healthy full-term newborn babies. Recordings were analyzed visually and with R-R interval histograms computed by a small, special-purpose computer. The heart rate increased with age. Slow changes in rate produced a bimodal histogram in 71 records and a trimodal one in 11 records. Variation in R-R intervals decreased to less than 150 msec. (total range) in 20 infants. Small variation of heart rate was most frequent in the first day. The heart rate in 84 records was less than 90/min. Cardiac arrhythmias, most frequent during the first 2 days, occurred in 12 infants. Nodal escape beats and supraventricular extrasystoles were the commonest ectopic rhythms. |