Does parasympathetic stimulation either by drugs or bioelectronic devices improve outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure?
Despite a strong pathophysiological rationale, current approaches to vagus nerve stimulation in chronic heart failure have yielded inconclusive results.
Increased sympathetic and reduced parasympathetic nerve activity is associated with disease progression and poor outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure. The demonstration that markers of autonomic imbalance and vagal dysfunction, such as reduced heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity, hold prognostic value in patients with chronic heart failure despite modern therapies encourages the research for neuromodulation strategies targeting the vagus nerve. However, the approaches tested so far have yielded inconclusive results. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge about the role of the parasympathetic nervous system in chronic heart failure, describing the pathophysiological background, the methods of assessment, and the rationale, limits, and future perspectives of parasympathetic stimulation either by drugs or bioelectronic devices.
Gentile et al. (Fri,) studied this question.