Abstract
Heart rate variability is an interesting and intellectually challenging concept. Subtle nuances in R-R interval variations can, when appropriately processed, reveal information about the general balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic tone. Early studies, however, used relatively crude indices of heart rate variability. They showed that in patients with diabetic autonomic neuropathy variability was lost with the associated cardiac denervation [1]. Wolf et al. [2] showed that the presence of sinus arrhythmia in infarct survivors predicted a good long-term outcome. Since then there has been considerable interest in heart rate variability as, of all the many arrhythmogenic factors, autonomic tone is the least easily measured. At the present time there are a myriad of heart rate variability measures based on some form of dynamic ECG recording. Sinus rate variability and the Valsalva index have largely been superseded although it might be premature to abandon them; they are simple and robust [3, 4].
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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Campbell, R.W.F. (1996). Can analysis of heart rate variability predict arrhythmias and antiarrhythmic effects?. In: Oto, M.A. (eds) Practice and Progress in Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 183. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0219-0_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0219-0_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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