Chaotic and periodic heart rate dynamics in uncomplicated intrauterine growth restricted fetuses

We studied how chaotic and periodic heart rate dynamics differ between normal fetuses (n = 192) and uncomplicated intrauterine growth restricted fetuses (n = 86), aged 31-42 weeks of gestation. We analyzed each fetal heart rate time series for 25 min. We quantified the chaotic dynamics of each fetal heart rate time series by correlation dimension. The periodic dynamics were analyzed by power spectral analysis. The correlation dimension and, therefore, the complexity, of the heart rate dynamics of the uncomplicated intrauterine growth restricted fetuses was significantly lower than that of the normal fetuses, which was marked at 38-42 weeks of gestation. The low-frequency (0.04-0.15 Hz) component and, therefore, the periodicity of the low-frequency range was significantly higher than that of the normal fetuses during all the gestational weeks. These results mean that, although the intrauterine growth restricted fetuses are not severely compromised, the overall integrity of their cardiovascular control is impaired, especially at term; and sympathetic modulation is increased, both of which may contribute to increased perinatal mortality.