Septicemia mortality reduction in neonates in a heart rate characteristics monitoring trial

BACKGROUND: Abnormal heart rate characteristics (HRC) wax and wane in early stages of culture-positive, late-onset septicemia (LOS) in patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Continuously monitoring an HRC index leads to a reduction in mortality among very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. We hypothesized that the reduction in mortality was due to a decrease in septicemia-associated mortality. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of clinical and HRC data from 2,989 VLBW infants enrolled in a randomized clinical trial of HRC monitoring in nine NICUs from 2004 to 2010. RESULTS: LOS was diagnosed 974 times in 700 patients, and the incidence and distribution of organisms were similar in HRC display and nondisplay groups. Mortality within 30 d of LOS was lower in the HRC display as compared with the nondisplay group (11.8 vs. 19.6%; relative risk: 0.61; 95% confidence interval: 0.43, 0.87; P < 0.01), but mortality reduction was not statistically significant for patients without LOS. There were fewer large, abrupt increases in the HRC index in the days leading up to LOS diagnosis in infants whose HRC index was displayed. CONCLUSION: Continuous HRC monitoring is associated with a lower septicemia-associated mortality in VLBW infants, possibly due to diagnosis earlier in the course of illness.