Evolution in functional complexity of heart rate dynamics: a measure of cardiac allograft adaptability

The capacity of self-organized systems to adapt is embodied in the functional organization of intrinsic control mechanisms. Evolution in functional complexity of heart rate variability (HRV) was used as measure of the capacity of the transplanted heart to express newly emergent regulatory order. In a cross-sectional study of 100 patients after (0-10 yr) heart transplantation (HTX), heart rate dynamics were assessed using pointwise correlation dimension (PD2) analysis. A new observation is that, commencing with the acute event of allograft transplantation, the dynamics of rhythm formation proceed through complex phase transitions. At implantation, the donor heart manifested metronome-like chronotropic behavior (PD2 approximately 1.0). At 11-100 days, dimensional complexity of HRV reached a peak (PD2 approximately 2.0) associated with resurgence in the high-frequency component (0.15-0.5 Hz) of the power spectral density. Subsequent dimensional loss to PD2 approximately 1.0 at 20-30 mo after HTX was followed by a progressive near-linear gain in system complexity, reaching PD2 approximately 3.0 7-10 yr after HTX. The "dynamic reorganization" in the allograft rhythm-generating system, seen in the first 100 days, is a manifestation of the adaptive capacity of intrinsic control mechanisms. The loss of HRV 2 yr after HTX implies a withdrawal of intrinsic autonomic control and/or development of an entrained dynamic pattern characteristic of extrinsic sympathetic input. The subsequent long-term progressive rise in dimensional complexity of HRV can be attributed to the restoration of a functional order patterning parasympathetic control. The recognition that the decentralized heart can restitute the multidimensional state space of HR generator dynamics independent of external autonomic signaling may provide a new perspective on principles that constitute homeodynamic regulation.