Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
I had a kind of blind faith. I believed in the collaboration between the
firm will of my one-pound-twelve-ounce daughter and the expertise
of modern medicine.
Wendy Wasserstein. Complications.
The New Yorker, Feb. 21, 2000, pp. 87-109
Between five and six of every 100 births in the United
States are premature, requiring specialized medical
assistance or emergency intervention. Medical advances
over the last 2 decades now allow infants born up to
18 weeks prematurely and with birth weights (BWs) as
low as 500 g to survive. Although the survival rates for
premature babies weighing less than 750 g have increased
tremendously, to about 50%, every low birth weight
(LBW) premature baby faces a high risk of serious
complications, diseases, and long-term developmental
problems.
Chapter 6
PREDICTING
SEPTICEMIA IN
NEONATES
In this chapter, we employ mathematical techniques and
models to answer the following question: Can heart rate
(HR) be used to predict potentially deadly bacterial
infections in premature babies before other symptoms
manifest themselves? To answer this question, we shall
study symmetric and asymmetric distributions, statistical
measures of data variability and symmetry, and measures
of irregularity in time series.
Premature Births, Low Birth Weights,
and Health Risks
Sepsis: Medical Overview, Clinical
Diagnosis, and Diagnostic Challenges
Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability
Quantifying Heart Rate and Heart Rate
Variability
I. PREMATURE BIRTHS, LOW BIRTH
WEIGHTS, AND HEALTH RISKS
Time-independent Measures: Interbeat
Interval Distribution, Standard Deviation,
and Skewness
Gestation is the period between the conception and birth
of a baby during which the fetus is growing within the
mother's uterus. Justifiably considered one of the most
awe-inspiring of natural phenomena, the period of
gestation has been studied for centuries. Gestational age
(GA) is the time the fetus has been in utero (inside the
uterus) and is usually measured in weeks. A normal
pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, and during this period a
human being arises from a single fertilized egg. At birth,
every infant is classified as premature (<37 weeks
gestation), full-term (37-42 weeks gestation), or post-term
(
Time-independent Measures: Sample
Asymmetry of a Random Variable
Data Validating the Utility of Sample
Asymmetry Analysis of Heart Rate
Variability
Validating the Properties of Sample
Asymmetry Through Computer
Simulation
Time-dependent Measures: Sample
Entropy
42 weeks gestation). In the medical literature, infants
are also referred to as neonates. Physicians specializing in
neonatal care are called neonatologists.
>
Combining Various Measures of Heart
Rate Variability Abnormality
Following birth, assessment of an infant's weight, head
circumference, and vital signs are used to determine a
181
