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Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Activity in Children
09:45

Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Activity in Children

Published on: April 29, 2013

Changes in heart rate variability after adenotonsillectomy in children with obstructive sleep apnea

Hiren V Muzumdar1, Sanghun Sin1, Margarita Nikova2

  • 1Division of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Bronx, NY; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.

Chest
|November 26, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Adenotonsillectomy (AT) in children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) significantly reduces sympathetic nervous system activity. This improvement in OSAS is linked to lower heart rate and improved heart rate variability (HRV) after treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Cardiology
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Autonomic Neuroscience

Background:

  • Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is linked to cardiovascular issues, potentially via increased sympathetic activity.
  • Children with OSAS exhibit higher sympathetic activity, indicated by elevated heart rate (HR) and low-frequency to high-frequency ratio (LF/HF) in heart rate variability (HRV).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of adenotonsillectomy (AT) on sympathetic activity in children with OSAS.
  • To assess changes in heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) parameters following AT.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of heart rate (HR) and HRV components during sleep stages (light, deep, REM) before and after AT.
  • Polysomnography data from 18 children with OSAS (aged 4.9 ± 2.4 years) were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • Adenotonsillectomy (AT) significantly reduced the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in children with OSAS.
  • Post-AT, heart rate (HR) decreased across all sleep stages (light, deep, REM).
  • The low-frequency to high-frequency ratio (LF/HF) of HRV also decreased significantly after AT in all sleep stages.

Conclusions:

  • Adenotonsillectomy (AT) leads to a reduction in sympathetic nervous system activity in children with OSAS.
  • Improvement in sleep-disordered breathing after AT is associated with decreased sympathetic predominance.
Abstract

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