Dataset Information

Utility of using electrocardiogram measures of heart rate variability as a measure of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in type 1 diabetes patients.

ABSTRACT:

Aims/introduction

Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a predictor of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Cardiovascular reflex tests (CARTs) are the gold standard for the diagnosis of CAN, but might not be feasible in large research cohorts or in clinical care. We investigated whether measures of heart rate variability obtained from standard electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings provide a reliable measure of CAN.

Materials and methods

Standardized CARTs (R-R response to paced breathing, Valsalva, postural changes) and digitized 12-lead resting ECGs were obtained concomitantly in Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications participants (n = 311). Standard deviation of normally conducted R-R intervals (SDNN) and the root mean square of successive differences between normal-to-normal R-R intervals (rMSSD) were measured from ECG. Sensitivity, specificity, probability of correct classification and Kappa statistics evaluated the agreement between ECG-derived CAN and CARTs-defined CAN.

Results

Participants with CARTs-defined CAN had significantly lower SDNN and rMSSD compared with those without CAN (P < 0.001). The optimal cut-off points of ECG-derived CAN were <17.13 and <24.94 ms for SDNN and rMSSD, respectively. SDNN plays a dominant role in defining CAN, with an area under the curve of 0.73, indicating fair test performance. The Kappa statistic for SDNN was 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.30-0.51) for the optimal cut-off point, showing fair agreement with CARTs-defined CAN. Combining SDNN and rMSSD optimal cut-off points does not provide additional predictive power for CAN.

Conclusions

These analyses are the first to show the agreement between indices of heart rate variability derived from ECGs and the gold standard CARTs, thus supporting potential use as a measure of CAN in clinical research and clinical care.

SUBMITTER: Pop-Busui R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8756321 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Introduction: Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Pulse Rate Variability (PRV), are non-invasive techniques for monitoring changes in the cardiac cycle. Both techniques have been used for assessing the autonomic activity. Although highly correlated in healthy subjects, differences in HRV and PRV have been observed under various physiological conditions. The reasons for their disparities in assessing the degree of autonomic activity remains unknown. Methods: To investigate the differences between HRV and PRV, a whole-body cold exposure (CE) study was conducted on 20 healthy volunteers (11 male and 9 female, 30.3 ± 10.4 years old), where PRV indices were measured from red photoplethysmography signals acquired from central (ear canal, ear lobe) and peripheral sites (finger and toe), and HRV indices from the ECG signal. PRV and HRV indices were used to assess the effects of CE upon the autonomic control in peripheral and core vasculature, and on the relationship between HRV and PRV. The hypotheses underlying the experiment were that PRV from central vasculature is less affected by CE than PRV from the peripheries, and that PRV from peripheral and central vasculature differ with HRV to a different extent, especially during CE. Results: Most of the PRV time-domain and Poincaré plot indices increased during cold exposure. Frequency-domain parameters also showed differences except for relative-power frequency-domain parameters, which remained unchanged. HRV-derived parameters showed a similar behavior but were less affected than PRV. When PRV and HRV parameters were compared, time-domain, absolute-power frequency-domain, and non-linear indices showed differences among stages from most of the locations. Bland-Altman analysis showed that the relationship between HRV and PRV was affected by CE, and that it recovered faster in the core vasculature after CE. Conclusion: PRV responds to cold exposure differently to HRV, especially in peripheral sites such as the finger and the toe, and may have different information not available in HRV due to its non-localized nature. Hence, multi-site PRV shows promise for assessing the autonomic activity on different body locations and under different circumstances, which could allow for further understanding of the localized responses of the autonomic nervous system.