Does transcatheter ventricular septal defect closure affect heart rate variability in children?

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Cardiology
• Autonomic Nervous System Function
• Cardiac Electrophysiology

Background:

• Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects cardiac autonomic nervous system activity.
• Evaluating HRV in pediatric ventricular septal defect (VSD) patients before and after treatment aids understanding of autonomic control.
• VSDs can impact cardiac autonomic function in children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess changes in HRV parameters in pediatric VSD patients following transcatheter closure.
• To compare HRV between VSD patients and healthy controls.
• To determine the impact of VSD closure on cardiac autonomic regulation.

Main Methods:

• Nineteen pediatric VSD patients and 18 healthy controls were enrolled.
• 24-hour Holter monitoring was used to collect HRV data before and three months after VSD closure.
• Time-domain and frequency-domain HRV parameters were analyzed using specialized software.

Main Results:

• Pre-closure, VSD patients showed lower SDNN, SDANN, and total power compared to controls.
• Post-closure, HRV parameters in VSD patients normalized, showing no significant difference from controls by three months.
• No correlation was found between hemodynamic parameters and HRV before VSD closure.

Conclusions:

• Transcatheter closure of VSDs in pediatric patients significantly alters HRV parameters.
• The procedure effectively restores cardiac autonomic control in children with VSDs.
• HRV assessment is a valuable tool for monitoring recovery after VSD treatment.