title: Effect of Acute Mental Stress on Heart Rate and QT Variability in Postmyocardial Infarction Patients.
abstract: Emotionally charged events are associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). In this study we assessed RR and QT variability index (QTVI) at baseline during anger recall test (AR). We calculated QTVI from a 5-min ECG recording and from a 10-beats segment around the presumed maximum sympathetic activation in thirty post-myocardial infarction patients under β-blocker therapy and 10 controls underwent. In all groups, the low-frequency component of RR and SBP increased during AR. In all recordings, the QTVI calculated on a 5-min ECG recording and the QTVI(10 beats) were higher in patients than in controls (P < 0.05). The QTVI during AR remained unchanged from baseline within each group. Conversely, during AR, the QTVI(10 beats) in controls diminished significantly (P < 0.05) from baseline whereas in patients remained unchanged. The inability to buffer an acute stress-induced increase in sympathetic activity could explain why events charged with acute stress are associated with an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias in this setting of patients and support the role of cognitive behavior stress management strategies.
authors: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Molecolare, Azienda Ospedaliera S. Andrea, "Sapienza" Università degli Studi di Roma, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors: Damiano
authors: D
authors: Magrì
authors: Gianfranco
authors: G
authors: Piccirillo
authors: Raffaele
authors: R
authors: Quaglione
authors: Annalaura
authors: A
authors: Dell'armi
authors: Marilena
authors: M
authors: Mitra
authors: Stefania
authors: S
authors: Velitti
authors: Daniele
authors: D
authors: Di Barba
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Lizio
authors: Damiana
authors: D
authors: Maisto
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Barillà