Abstract
Sighs are important components of normal breathing. They occur isolated or associated with respîratory pauses. Functional residual capacity and lung compliance increase after sighs. Sighs have been shown to be part of an arousal reaction in infants and to induce heart rate modifications. We investigated the influence of sighs on the autonomic balance in infants.
METHODS: 107 sighs (a single breath of at least twice the amplitude of the preceding breaths, not followed by an apnea) from 23 term infants were selected. The selection was made in conditions known not to interfere with spontaneous HR variability (quiet sleep,absence of movements, apnea or false detections of QRS during the 2 preceding and following minutes. Spectral analysis of RR variability was performed on the 2 minutes preceding and the 2 minutes following the sigh. To study the role of the ANS in the development of a sigh, spectral analysis of the period just before the sigh and of the 2 preceding minutes were compared.
RESULTS: The 2 minutes following the sigh were characterized by an increased RR interval (p 0.001), an increased total power (p <0.01),an increased LF (p0.01), unchanged HF, increased HF/LF (p <0.001), increased LF normalized (p< 0.001),decreased HF normalized (p<0.001). When comparing the interval sigh minus 4 to 2 minutes with the interval sigh minus 2 to 0 minutes, the opposite evolution of autonomic balance was observed.
DISCUSSION: The results of the spectral analysis indicate that sighs are followed by an increase in orthosympatic tone and a decrease in parasympatic tone. On the opposite, the period preceding sighs is caracterized by a decrease in orthosympatic tone and an increase in parasympatic tone.
CONCLUSION: These results indicate that sighs could play a resetting role for the autonomic nervous system during quiet sleep in normal infants.
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Groswasser, J., De Broca, A., Scaillet, S. et al. 158 Is Sighing a Resetting Mechanism of the Autonomic Nervous System?. Pediatr Res 58, 381 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200508000-00187
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200508000-00187