Variabilita srdeční frekvence u dětí vleže a vstoje: Heart rate variability in children at supine and standing position – Novotná Martina (2008)

Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis is used in various medical fields as a very sensitive diagnostic method for disorders of the neurovegetative system and the heart, in both adults and children. The aim of the work was to contribute to the creation of reference values for HRV, which are necessary for evaluating measurement results in clinical practice but are lacking in the available literature. Using the VariaPulse TF3 system, the length of 256 R-R intervals was measured in five-minute ECG recordings from 149 healthy children (63 boys and 86 girls) aged 4 to 18 years while at rest in a lying and standing position. Time and spectral analyses of their variability were performed, and basic statistical characteristics were calculated in five different age groups of children, separately for boys and girls. The percentile ranges of heart rate variability indicators could serve for preliminary assessment of HRV from a five-minute ECG recording in children aged 6 to 18 years. Values between the 25th and 75th percentiles can be considered normal, while values below the 10th percentile are very low and those above the 90th percentile are very high.