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Published on: June 5, 2019
Impaired heart rate variability in euthymic bipolar patients
Hagit Cohen1, Zeev Kaplan, Moshe Kotler
1Ministry of Health Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. hagitc@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
Background:
Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) has recently been shown to be a reliable non-invasive test for quantitative assessment of the central sympathovagal interaction that modulates cardiovascular autonomic function.
Methods:
We studied 39 euthymic bipolar patients and 39 controls, matched for age and sex. A high-resolution electrocardiogram was obtained during complete rest. Spectral analysis of R-R intervals was performed by the fast Fourier transform algorithm.
Results:
Euthymic bipolar patients at rest are characterized by markedly low HRV, independent of specific drug treatments.
Conclusion:
While these results of autonomic stability in euthymic bipolar patients are counter-intuitive, the findings may be important in understanding pathophysiology of bipolar affective illness.
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