EVALUATION OF A PORTABLE PROTOTYPE TO ANALYZE HEART-RATE-VARIABILITY

Power spectrum analysis of heart rate fluctuations provide a quantitat ive noninvasive means of assessing the functioning of the cardiovascul ar control system. Until now the equipment used to study heart rate va riability (HRV) have been complicated systems utilized mostly in resea rch centers. Simpler systems are needed for routine clinical applicati on. We have evaluated, through clinical practice, the usefulness of pr ototype equipment which allows acquisition and analysis of ECG signals by a portable electrocardiograph and a personal computer in which sop histicated software is installed. We performed one hundred forty-five recordings in twenty-two patients admitted to ICU. With this technique two different predictive patterns were detected: one concerning survi vors, the other concerning nonsurvivors. Reliability, portability, sim plicity and quality results are the main advantages of the system. The disadvantage is that it is difficult to perform HRV analysis in patie nts with ECG arrhythmia. This is because the program does not allow th e choice of an arrhythmia-free section of the tachogram to analyze.