Common clinical factor analysis of heart rate variability in patients with cerebral infarction

Abstract

Objective To explore the characteristics of heart rate variability (HRV) and its impact factors in patients with cerebral infarction and provide evidence for treatment of cerebral infarction. Methods The clinical data of 190 patients with cerebral infarction were analyzed. These patients admitted to our hospital from May 2007 to June 2009 and CT or MRI confirmed their diagnoses. Fifty healthy subjects in the same period were chosen as control group. The 24 h HRV analysis technology was employed to compare the activity impairment of their cardiac autonomic nervous. According to age, gender, type of infarction, infarct location, severity and prognosis, patients with cerebral infarction were divided into several subgroups; the impact of these factors on patients with HRV was analyzed. Results HRV indexes in patients with cerebral infarction were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Patients that were older than or equal to 60-year-old showed lower HRV indexes as compared with the patients that were younger than 60-year-old (P<0.05). Except for the temporal frequency, the other HRV indexes satisfied the following conditions: lower HRV indexes in female were showed as compared with those in male (P<0.05); the HRV indexes in patients with lacunar infarction were significantly higher than those in patients with atherosclerotic cerebral infarction or cerebral embolism (P<0.05); patients with right insula infarction showed significantly lower time domain HRV indexes than patients with other position infarction (P<0.05); HRV indexes were low in patients with low GCS scores. The lowest HRV indexes were noted in patients with the incidence of death, followed by patients with improvement and cured patients. Conclusion Autonomic nervous system in patients with cerebral infarction is overbalanced. Early dynamic monitoring of HRV can determine the extent of brain injury and the evolution of the disease, contributing to early identification of high risk patients and guiding the clinical treatment. Key words: Cerebral infarction; Heart rate variability; Autonomic nervous system