title: Long-term heart rate fluctuations in postoperative and brain-dead patients.
abstract: Long-term heart rate fluctuations in postoperative and brain-dead patients were investigated. Heart rates were monitored continuously, and the data were stored, edited, and interpolated to allow for data lost during calibration and disconnection of the sensors for various treatments. Heart rate power spectra were calculated using the fast Fourier transform method. The power spectra of the patients who recovered showed that the heart rate fluctuated and produced a 1/f relationship, termed 1/f fluctuations, whereas those of patients who died in the intensive care unit (ICU) consisted of white-noise-like signals. The power spectra in brain-dead patients showed a 1/f relationship under steady-state conditions, while the power density and variation of the frequency distribution were lower than those in a normal subject. Therefore, 1/f fluctuations appear to be universal and occur independent of the central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Hospital, Yamaguchi University, Japan. tamura@inst.i-mde.tmd.ac.jp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maekawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sadamitsu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tateishi
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure; D001831:Body Temperature; D001926:Brain Death / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003422:Critical Care; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced; D011184:Postoperative Period; D013997:Time Factors