title: Heart rate variability and cardiac autonomic function in systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: The cardiac autonomic function was evaluated in 23 patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) without clinical expression of dysautonomia and in 14 healthy volunteer subjects as a control group, by analysis of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) from 24h ambulatory electrocardiography. All the patients were taking corticosteroids and 10 of them also Ciclosporin A (CsA). The following parameters of HRV were performed: Time domain: standard deviation of the RR intervals average (SDNN) and percentage of RR adjacent intervals differing from each other more than 50 msec (pNN50). Frequency domain: low frequencies (LF) and high frequencies (HF). Significant lower values were detected in SLE patients vs controls: SDNN = 69.40 vs 127.72; pNN50 = 16.44 vs 25.95; LF = 8.34 vs 34.97; HF = 3.21 vs 12.18. The incidence of autonomic dysfunction in our SLE population evaluated by considering intervals of normality is approximately 78% for SDNN; 17% for pNN50; 91% for LF and, finally, 56% for HF. The analysis of HRV may be a valuable technique in the study of the incidence of dysautonomia for these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicina Clinica, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Laganá
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tubani
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maffeo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vella
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Makk
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baratta
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonomo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear