A study conducted on more than 3,000 pre-term infants who received care under the Heart Rate Observation System (HeRO® monitor) showed a reduced mortality rate of 20%, effectively saving one infant life for every 48 monitored. The results of this multicenter investigation of the HeRO monitor, co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and Medical Predictive Science Corporation (MPSC), appear in The Journal of Pediatrics.

An innovative monitoring system for premature infants HeRO detects early signs of distress, usually caused by infection and other potentially life-threatening illnesses. By generating an hourly numeric score that quantifies the prevalence of abnormal patterns in each patient’s heart rate, HeRO provides a new tool for clinical evaluation so that standard diagnostic and therapeutic decisions are better founded.

The investigation, Mortality reduction by heart rate characteristic monitoring in very low birth weight neonates: a randomized trial, was conducted from April 2004 to September 2010 at leading neonatal intensive care units (NICU) at the University of Virginia, Wake Forest University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Vanderbilt University, University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Greenville SC Hospital System, Winnie Palmer Children’s Hospital and Pennsylvania State University.

In the group that received standard NICU care there were 152 deaths (10.2%) and 122 deaths (8.1%) in the group that received standard NICU care combined with HeRO monitoring, an absolute risk reduction of 2.1%. In the investigation there were no considerable differences in demographics between the two groups, nor any other outcomes.

The investigation’s chief researcher and co-inventor J. Randall Moorman, M.D., a University of Virginia cardiologist explained:

“The HeRO monitor is the voice for infants who can’t speak for themselves. It’s an early warning system for NICU doctors and nurses to get to the right bedside at the right time.”

According to the March of Dimes, over half a million babies each year (approximately 12.8%) in the U.S. are born prematurely. Since the early 1980s premature birth rates have increased by 36%. The mortality rate is approximately 10% among the 60,000 premature babies born less than 3.3 pounds each year. The results of the investigation point to the possibility of saving the lives of an additional 1,200 babies each year.

The patented monitoring technology was developed at the University of Virginia and licensed to Medical Predictive Science Corporation in Charlottesville, Virginia. The monitor, which is made by MPSC, has been cleared by the FDA to monitor neonatal distress and is being used by hospitals across the country.

Written by Grace Rattue