Autonomic Functions in Obese Patients

Intact autonomic cardiac control appears to be an important protective factor against malignant arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. The obese subjects are more prone to sudden death and arrhythmias than lean subjects. Heart rate turbulence (HRT) impairment reflects cardiac autonomic dysfunction, in particular impaired baroreflex sensitivity and reduced parasympathetic activity. In the obesity, the involvement of autonomic control on cardiac function involvement is controversial. Our aim was to evaluate the influence of obesity on HRT parameters. Twelve obese patients (mean age 49±7, 9 female) and twelve healthy subjects (mean age 51±9, 9 female) were included into the study. 24 hours ambulatory electrocardiogram recordings were taken from the subjects with Pathfinder Software Version V8.255 (Reynolds Medical). HRT parameters, Turbulence Onset (TO) and Turbulence Slope (TS), were calculated with HRT. View Version 0.60-0.1 software program from Holter recordings. There were no significant differences in TO and TS between obese and control subjects (TO obese: 0.0092±0.0507, TO control: -0.0052±0.0486; TS obese: 6.3388±4.6369, TS control: 5.4301±6.1047, respectively). We did not find any significant differences of HRT parameters between obese and control subjects.