Heart Rate Surges

Heart rate surges are sudden increases in heart rate that occur following respiratory events. They are part of the autonomic nervous system's arousal response to breathing disruption. When the brain detects reduced oxygen or increased respiratory effort, it triggers a sympathetic activation that increases heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory drive.

AirwayLab detects two types of heart rate surges from oximetry data. Clinical surges are measured against a 30-second baseline at multiple thresholds (8, 10, 12, and 15 bpm above baseline). Rolling mean surges use a 5-minute baseline with a 5-second sustain requirement, making them more sensitive to the gradual autonomic responses that follow respiratory events.

The clinical significance of heart rate surges increases when they occur alongside oxygen desaturations. When both a desaturation and a heart rate surge occur within 30 seconds of each other, AirwayLab counts this as a coupled event. Coupled events strongly suggest a respiratory arousal, as the combined oxygen and heart rate response indicates the autonomic nervous system is repeatedly being activated by breathing disruption.