Oxygen saturation and heart rate variations as predictors of intradialytic hypotension

Abstract

Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) occurring during hemodialysis (HD) may cause severe complications and can be life-threatening. IDH is a common symptom in patients with end stage renal disease undergoing HD. Currently, no effective predictive models for IDH exist. This study analyzed data on variations in oxygen saturation (SaO2) and heart rate (HR) in 68 patients during their HD sessions by using sequence alignment and Boolean algebra. Three classifiers derived from SaO2 and HR variation data were developed as predictors for predetermining IDH occurrence within 30 minutes. The accuracy of these classifiers in predicting IDH occurrence was approximately 80%. SaO2 and HR variations can potentially be used as predictors for developing an alarm system for detecting IDH occurrence.