title: Heart rate variability in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify autonomic dysregulation in frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE).
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 14 male and 11 female subjects with FLE and an equal number of matched healthy control subjects. Lead I electrocardiograms were obtained for 5 min in the interictal state during daytime. Frequency-domain analysis of heart rate variability was performed and the data subsequently converted to heart rate interval and high frequency (HF; 0.15-0.45 Hz) power which representing vagal or parasympathetic regulation, as well as low frequency (LF; 0.04-0.15 Hz) power and LF/(HF+LF) expressed in normalized units (LF%) (considered to mirror sympathetic regulation). Differences in data between groups were compared using t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The epilepsy group had a lower mean heart rate interval and a lower high frequency power.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with FLE have interictally faster heart rates, attributed to lower parasympathetic drive, which may contribute to the higher incidence of sudden death that is seen in this group of patients. This suggests that the mechanism of decreased HRV in patients with FLE is probably different from that in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Sciences, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tomor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harnod
authors.forename: Cheryl C H
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yue-Loong
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Hsin
authors.forename: Pen-Jung
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Kun-Ruey
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Shieh
authors.forename: Terry B J
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Kuo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004049:Diethylcarbamazine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D017034:Epilepsy, Frontal Lobe / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016859:Lipoxygenase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016859:Lipoxygenase Inhibitors; D004049:Diethylcarbamazine