Heart rate ranges in premature neonates using high resolution physiologic data

Objective There are limited evidence-based published heart rate ranges for premature neonates. We determined heart rate ranges in premature neonates based on gestational and post-menstrual age. Study Design Retrospective observational study of premature neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Virginia between January 2009 and October 2015. We included gestational ages between 23 0/7 weeks and 34 6/7 weeks. We stratified data by gestational and post-menstrual age groups. Results Over two billion heart rate values in 1703 neonates were included in our study. We established percentile-based reference ranges based on gestational and post-menstrual age. Our results demonstrate a slight increase in the initial weeks after birth, followed by a gradual decline with age. The baseline heart rate is lower with advancing gestational age. Conclusions Knowing heart rate reference ranges in the premature neonatal population can be helpful in the bedside assessment of the neonate.