Time domain parameters of heart rate variability in children born as small-for-gestational age.

According to metabolic programming theory, small-for-gestational age patients are at high risk of cardiovascular diseases also because of the possible malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Autonomic disorders can be assessed by heart rate variability. The aims of this study were to compare time domain parameters of heart rate variability in children born as small-for-gestational age and appropriate-for-gestational age and to assess the correlation of the postnatal and current somatic parameters with the time domain parameters. The small-for-gestational age group consisted of 68 children aged 5-10 years who were born with birth weight below the 10th percentile. The appropriate-for-gestational age group consisted of 30 healthy peers, matched in terms of gender and age. On the basis of Holter monitoring, slightly higher average heart rate was observed in the small-for-gestational age group than in the appropriate-for-gestational age group. It was found that all the time domain parameters (SDNN, SDNNi, SDANNi, rMSSD, pNN50) were lower in the small-for-gestational age group than in the appropriate-for-gestational age group. In the small-for-gestational age group, girls had lower heart rate and some of the heart rate variability parameters (SDNN, SDNNi, SDANNi) in comparison with boys. Children born as small-for-gestational age have impaired function of the autonomic nervous system. Moreover, in the small-for-gestational age group, autonomic balance moved towards the sympathetic component, which was evidenced by higher heart rate. Children with faster heart rate and lower heart rate variability parameters may be at risk of cardiovascular disease.