| Title | Heart rate variability in intensive care unit patients with delirium. | ||
| Author | Zaal, Irene J; van der Kooi, Arendina W; van Schelven, Leonard J; Oey, P Liam; Slooter, Arjen J C | ||
| Journal | J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci | Publication Year/Month | 2015 |
| PMID | 25541864 | PMCID | -N/A- |
| Affiliation | 1.From the Depts. of Intensive Care Medicine, Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands (IJZ, AWvdK, AJCS); the Dept. of Medical Technology and Clinical Physics, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands (LJvS); and the Dept. of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands (PLO). | ||
Sympathovagal balance, assessed with heart rate variability (HRV), may be altered in intensive care unit (ICU) delirium. HRV was measured in the frequency domain [low frequencies (LF)=0.04-0.15 Hz and high frequencies (HF)=0.15-0.40 Hz] with HF in normalized units (HFnu) to evaluate parasympathetic tone and LF:HF ratio for sympathovagal balance. The authors assessed 726 ICU patients and excluded patients with conditions affecting HRV. No difference could be found between patients with (N=13) and without (N=12) delirium by comparing the mean (+/-standard deviation) of the HFnu (75+/-7 versus 68+/-23) and the LF:HF ratio (-0.7+/-1.0 versus -0.1+/-1.1). This study suggests that autonomic function is not altered in ICU delirium.