title: Cardiac autonomic function in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with and without ventricular tachycardia.
abstract: Autonomic dysfunction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may increase the risks of arrhythmia and sudden death. We studied cardiac autonomic function in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD).
  
  
  
  Patients with AECOPD were classified into ventricular tachycardia (VT) and non-VT groups according to the presence or absence of VT. The following parameters derived from 24-h Holter monitoring were compared between groups: average heart rate, heart rate deceleration capacity (DC), heart rate acceleration capacity (AC), standard deviation of normal RR intervals (SDNN), standard deviation of average RR interval in 5-min segments (SDANN), root mean square of standard deviations of differences between adjacent normal RR intervals (rMSSD), low-frequency power (LF), high-frequency power (HF) and LF/HF ratio.
  
  
  
  Seventy patients were included, 22 in the VT group and 48 in the non-VT group. The groups had similar clinical characteristics (except for more common amiodarone use in the VT group, P < 0.05) and general ECG characteristics. DC, SDNN, SDANN and rMSSD were lower and AC higher in the VT group (P < 0.05). In the VT group, DC was correlated positively with SDNN (r = 0.716), SDANN (r = 0.595), rMSSD (r = 0.571) and HF (r = 0.486), and negatively with LF (r = -0.518) and LF/HF (r = -0.458) (P < 0.05). AC was correlated negatively with SDNN (r = -0.682), SDANN (r = -0.567) and rMSSD (r = -0.548) (P < 0.05).
  
  
  
  DC decreased and AC increased in patients with AECOPD and VT, reflecting an imbalance in autonomic regulation of the heart that might increase the risk of sudden death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's, Hospital, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Xingde
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of respiratory medicine, Shanghai Pu Nan Hospital, Shanghai, 200125, China.
authors.forename: Zhaohua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's, Hospital, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's, Hospital, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of respiratory medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth, People's Hospital, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of respiratory medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth, People's Hospital, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: Department of respiratory medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth, People's Hospital, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of respiratory medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth, People's Hospital, Shanghai, 200233, China. yinshaojun2010@163.com.
authors.forename: Shaojun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002681:China; D018450:Disease Progression; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Acute exacerbation; Autonomic nervous system; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Electrocardiogram; Phase-rectified signal averaging (PRSA); Ventricular tachycardia