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The Complex Interpretation of Heart Rate Variability Components in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Abstract:

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a critical therapeutic intervention to support patients with respiratory failure. Using a dataset of 54 adult ICU patients under MV, this study analyzes respiratory signals and ECG-derived HRV data to identify the appearance of additional frequency components, particularly at harmonic frequencies, beyond the traditional low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) bands of HRV. It is observed that, in controlled and support ventilation modes, these additional harmonics appear as a result of ventilator-induced respiratory signal modulations. This phenomenon occurs up to 93.39% of the time in the controlled ventilation mode. Specifically, when the second harmonic frequency exceeds half the heart rate, aliasing occurs, manifesting as components at F<inf>HR</inf> − 2F<inf>R</inf>. These findings underscore the importance of considering these additional frequency components for a more comprehensive understanding of HRV and its role in assessing the success of weaning from mechanical ventilation.