title: Autonomic cardiac abnormalities in alcohol-dependent patients admitted to a psychiatric department.
abstract: Standardized heart rate analyses were performed in 60 drug-free patients with alcohol dependence, who were admitted consecutively to a psychiatric department, and in 60 healthy normal matched subjects. The procedure included time and frequency derived measurements of heart rate variability (HRV). The investigations were carried out 3 weeks after admission and treatment on a closed ward to avoid autonomic hyperexcitability during withdrawal or relapse. The patients showed a significantly increased heart rate (p < 0.05), a significant reduction in the coefficient of variation while resting (p < 0.01) and a significant decrease of the high frequency power of spectral analysis (p < 0.01) compared with the normal subjects. Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction was found in 12 of the patients, but in only one of the normal subjects (p < 0.01). The results indicated moderate parasympathetic (vagal) alteration in alcohol-dependent patients treated in a psychiatric department. This may have implications for psychotherapeutic or psychopharmacological treatment strategies and prognosis in such patients with alcohol dependence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rechlin
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Orbes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weis
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Kaschka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications*; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome