Heart Rate Characteristics in Infants with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy: Effects of Dexmedetomidine and Gestational Age

Purpose: Therapeutic hypothermia is used in neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) to mitigate neurologic damage due to asphyxia. Prior studies have shown that infants with more severe encephalopathy have lower heart rate variability, reflecting autonomic nervous system dysfunction. If heart rate characteristics (HRC) are to be useful as an early biomarker for severity of encephalopathy, it is important to consider how other clinical variables impact HRC. Two variables of interest are gestational age (GA), since cooling practices have expanded to include late preterm infants, and the effect of sedation medications. Our institution changed …