title: Heart rate variability in children with Fontan circulation: lateral tunnel and extracardiac conduit.
abstract: The technique in Fontan surgery has developed from the lateral tunnel (LT) toward the extracardiac conduit (EC) used to reduce long-term complications such as atrial arrhythmia and sinus node dysfunction. Heart rate variability (HRV) examines cardiac nervous activity controlling the sinus node. This study aimed to investigate HRV in a cohort of children with univentricular hearts, focusing on the relation between HRV and surgical procedure. For 112 children with Fontan circulation, HRV was analyzed using power spectral analysis. Spectral power was determined in three regions: very-low-frequency (VLF), low-frequency (LF), and high-frequency (HF) regions. Patients were compared with 66 healthy controls subject. Patients with LT were compared with patients who had EC. The children with Fontan circulation showed a significantly reduced HRV including total power (P < 0.0001), VLF (P < 0.0001), LF (P < 0.0001), and HF (P = 0.001) compared with the control subjects. The LT and EC patients did not differ significantly. Reduced HRV was found in both the LT and EC patients. In terms of HRV reduction, EC was not superior to LT.
authors: Department of Clinical Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors: Jenny Alenius
authors: JA
authors: Dahlqvist
authors: Marcus
authors: M
authors: Karlsson
authors: Urban
authors: U
authors: Wiklund
authors: Rolf
authors: R
authors: Hörnsten
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Strömvall-Larsson
authors: Håkan
authors: H
authors: Berggren
authors: Katarina
authors: K
authors: Hanseus
authors: Sune
authors: S
authors: Johansson
authors: Annika
authors: A
authors: Rydberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D018729:Fontan Procedure; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D014683:Vena Cava, Superior / Q000601:surgery*