ISSN 2149-2263 | E-ISSN 2149-2271
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Cardiac autonomic function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: heart rate turbulence analysis [Anatol J Cardiol]
Anatol J Cardiol. 2011; 11(1): 11-15 | DOI: 10.5152/akd.2011.002

Cardiac autonomic function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: heart rate turbulence analysis

Alaettin Avşar1, Ersel Onrat2, Deniz Evcik3, Ataç Çelik4, Celal Kilit5, Nuran Kara Günay6, Tuncay Çakır7, Vural Kavuncu8
1Department of Cardiology Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar
2Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Kardiyoloji Anabilim Dalı, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye
3Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Ufuk Universty, Ankara
4Department of Cardiology Dr. Cevdet Aykan State Hospital, Tokat
5Cardiology Clinics, Kütahya Evliya Celebi State Hospital, Kütahya
6Cardiology Clinics, Antalya Atatürk State Hospital, Antalya
7Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics, Dr. Kemal Beyazıt Hospital, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey
8Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic disease. The risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is high in patients with RA. Heart rate turbulence (HRT) expresses ventriculophasic sinus arrhythmia and has been considered to reflect cardiac autonomic activity. It has been shown that HRT is an independent and powerful predictor of mortality. The aim of this study is to determine if HRT changes in patients with RA in comparison with the healthy controls. Methods: The study was performed as a cross-sectional study. Twenty-six patients with RA (mean age 56±10 years, 18 women) and 26 healthy controls (mean age 55±9 years, 18 women) were enrolled in this study. All participants underwent 24 hours Holter electrocardiogram monitoring. HRT measurements, turbulence onset (TO) and turbulence slope (TS), were calculated in patients and healthy controls that have at least one ventricular premature complex (VPC) in their Holter recordings. TO is a measure of the early sinus acceleration and TS is the measure of the rate of sinus deceleration that follows the sinus acceleration after a VPC. Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous variables and the Chi-square test for comparison of categorical variables. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in TO and TS between the RA and control groups (TO: -2.2±3.1% vs -2.8±2.5%, p=0.25; TS: 11.5±9.7 ms/RR vs 15.5±10.9 ms/RR, p=0.10). Conclusion: HRT parameters, which determine the autonomic dysfunction, did not seem to be altered in patients with RA.

Keywords: Autonomic nervous system, heart rate turbulence, ventricular premature complex, rheumatoid arthritis, Holter electrocardiogram

Alaettin Avşar, Ersel Onrat, Deniz Evcik, Ataç Çelik, Celal Kilit, Nuran Kara Günay, Tuncay Çakır, Vural Kavuncu. Cardiac autonomic function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: heart rate turbulence analysis. Anatol J Cardiol. 2011; 11(1): 11-15
Manuscript Language: English


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