Power spectral analysis for autonomic influences in heart rate and blood pressure variability in fetal lambs. Kimura, Yoshitaka, Kunihiro Okamura,takanori Watanabe,jun Murotsuki, Taku Suzuki, Masahiro Yano, and Akira Yajima. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryomachi, Aobaku, Sendai 980-77, Japan
APStracts 3:0079H, 1996.
Variability of R-R intervals and arterial blood pressure signals in chronically instrumented fetal lambs were analyzed by power spectral analysis based on an assumption of maximum entropy. There were four consistent components; very low (VL, 0.01-0.025 c/b), low (L, 0.025 -0.125 c/b), middle (M, 0.125-0.2 c/b) and high (H, 0.2-0.5 c/b), in the normal heart rate variability spectrum and the blood pressure spectrum. Integrated peaks in the power spectrum were compared before and after the administration of sympathetic and parasympathetic blockades. [circumflex]a sympathetic blockade reduced the spectral power in the VL and the L frequency component. [circumflex]a -sympathetic blockade reduced only the M frequency component in the spectrum of R-R interval variability. Parasympathetic blockade reduced the H and L frequency component in the spectrum on R-R intervals variability spectrum, but increased these components in the systolic blood pressure variability spectrum. The results clearly demonstrate the association between fetal autonomic activity and the change of the power spectrum of heart rate and blood pressure variability.

Received 10 October 1995; accepted in final form 13 February
1996.
APS Manuscript Number H946-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Heart Circ. Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 13 March 96