title: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia in cluster headache syndrome.
abstract: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia is regarded as indicative of cardiac vagal integrity. A ratio of the longest R-R interval to the shortest R-R interval during deep breathing test (E:I ratio) was calculated in controls (n = 49), cluster headache (n = 33) and CPH (n = 4) patients. E:I ratio decreased with age but was not dependent upon sex or upon smoking habits. Furthermore, there were no significant differences as regards E:I ratio between cluster headache patients in and outside a bout, or between patients with right-sided and left-sided headaches. However, the E:I ratio was found to be significantly lower in the cluster headache group as such, when compared with controls, but the number of patients disclosing pathological or borderline results was small, 2 and 2, respectively. This may indicate that a putative vagal dysfunction in cluster headache is usually less marked than in patients with e.g. diabetic autonomic neuropathy. Significant attack-related changes in the E:I ratio were detected in all individual patients though these changes were not of a uniform nature from individual to individual. E:I ratios were rather high in 3 out of 4 CPH patients examined. However, the number of patients in this group is too small to allow definite statements about the difference between CPH and cluster headache with regard to E:I ratios. There was no significant difference between E:I ratios outside and during a mild, short, mechanically precipitated attack in a single CPH patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Trondheim University Hospital, Norway.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kruszewski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001146:Arrhythmia, Sinus / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003027:Cluster Headache / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012119:Respiration / Q000502:physiology; D013577:Syndrome