Stroke Outcome Prediction by Blood Pressure Variability, Heart Rate Variability, and Baroreflex Sensitivity

Background and Purpose- Poststroke autonomic dysfunction portended an unfavorable prognosis. We investigated whether blood pressure variability (BPV), heart rate variability, and baroreflex sensitivity might predict stroke functional outcome. Methods- We calculated BPV, heart rate variability, baroreflex slope, and baroreflex effectiveness index from a 5-minute beat-to-beat blood pressure and heart rate monitoring within 7 days from the stroke onset. We compared the parameters between patients with a good outcome (modified Rankin Scale score, 0-2) and those with a poor outcome. Results- Among 142 patients (mean age, 63.9±10.2 years; 88.0% men), functional outcome was good in 112 (78.9%) and poor in 30 (21.1%). There were significant differences in admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, prior stroke, high-frequency systolic BPV, low/high-frequency ratio of BPV, baroreflex sensitivity-up, and baroreflex sensitivity-total between the 2 groups (all P<0.05). In multivariate analysis, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (OR, 1.672 [95% CI, 1.316-2.125]; P<0.001), low/high-frequency ratio of systolic BPV (OR, 0.493 [95% CI, 0.250-0.973]; P=0.041), and baroreflex effectiveness index-down (OR, 0.958 [95% CI, 0.924-0.992]; P=0.017) independently predicted a poor functional outcome. Conclusions- A decreased low/high-frequency ratio of systolic BPV and impaired baroreflex sensitivity predicted an unfavorable stroke outcome, in addition to the established prognostic factor such as the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale.