Correction for sinus arrhythmia in the evoked cardiac response: a timebase problem.
The detection and description of the evoked cardiac response (ECR) has received much attention in recent literature, with an increasing concentration upon the 'noise' problem of sinus arrhythmia (SA). A departure from extrapolated pre-stimulus activity, obtained by employing procedures of various complexities, has been proposed as an SA-free measure of the ECR. The use of such procedures without consideration of respiratory changes appears questionable. Simulation of HR protocols across a change in respiratory period indicates that spurious ECRs, similar in form to those in the published literature, may be produced by such techniques. A simple method of correcting the problem is outlined.
D001146:Arrhythmia, Sinus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D011603:Psychophysiology / Q000379:methods*; D012119:Respiration