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Assessing heart rate variability using a 12 lead ECG in patients with alcohol dependence syndrome

S Sucharita1, Raynette Clark, Priya Sreedaran

  • 1Core Physiological Laboratories, St John's Research Institute, Bangalore, India.

Indian Pacing and Electrophysiology Journal
|January 24, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Heavy drinking harms heart health by disrupting autonomic regulation. This study found reduced heart rate variability (HRV) in chronic alcohol users, suggesting ECG-derived HRV is a key indicator.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Autonomic Nervous System Research
  • Clinical Electrophysiology

Background:

  • Heavy or hazardous alcohol consumption is linked to increased cardiac morbidity and mortality.
  • This risk is often attributed to impaired cardiac autonomic regulation.
  • Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for clinical management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate simple electrocardiogram (ECG) derived indices in individuals with chronic alcohol dependence.
  • To assess the role of heart rate variability (HRV) in alcohol-related cardiac dysfunction.
  • To explore the clinical utility of ECG-derived HRV in managing alcohol-dependent patients.

Main Methods:

  • Recruitment of subjects with chronic alcohol dependence.
  • Comparison with age and gender-matched healthy controls.
  • Analysis of standard 12-lead ECG recordings.
  • Calculation and comparison of RR variability indices between groups.

Main Results:

  • The alcohol-dependent group exhibited significantly lower RR variability compared to controls.
  • This reduction in heart rate variability suggests autonomic dysfunction.
  • ECG-derived RR variability indices showed a clear difference between the groups.

Conclusions:

  • Chronic alcohol dependence is associated with reduced heart rate variability.
  • Simple 12-lead ECG derived RR variability indices can detect autonomic abnormalities in alcohol dependence.
  • These findings support the use of ECG-derived HRV in clinical settings for assessing cardiac risk in alcohol users.

Keywords:
12 lead derived RR variabilityAlcohol dependence Syndromeheart rate variability

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