Characteristics of heart rate variability in war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder after myocardial infarction.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of the study was to evaluate differences in heart rate variability (HRV) among post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients, depending on their participation in the Croatian war and on established diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).


METHODS
The study included 34 male war veterans with diagnosed PTSD who had suffered a first MI and 34 age-matched post-MI patients without PTSD. Cardiac autonomic balance was evaluated through HRV analysis.


RESULTS
There were no differences in the mean R-R interval or overall HRV between the analyzed groups. Post-MI patients with PTSD had lower values for the square root of the mean of squared successive differences in R-R intervals (p = 0.02), the percentage of R-R intervals that were > or =50 milliseconds different from the previous interval (p = 0.03), and the high-frequency component (p = 0.03) but had higher values for the low-frequency component (p = 0.01) and the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio (p = 0.02), compared with post-MI patients without PTSD.


CONCLUSIONS
Post-MI patients with PTSD have higher sympathetic and lower parasympathetic heart rate modulation activity, compared with patients with MI and no PTSD.
Department of Cardiology, Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation, Krapinske Toplice, HR-49217, Croatia.
Nenad
N
Lakusic
Krunoslav
K
Fuckar
Darija
D
Mahovic
Dusko
D
Cerovec
Marcel
M
Majsec
Nevenka
N
Stancin
D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014728:Veterans; D014857:Warfare