The addition of heart rate variability parameters to classic autonomic Ewing tests did not improve the correct classification of cardiac autonomic dysfunction in patients with fibromyalgia.
Case-Control (n=60)
Does heart rate variability improve the detection of cardiac autonomic dysfunction compared to classic autonomic testing in female patients with fibromyalgia?
Heart rate variability does not provide incremental value over classic Ewing tests for detecting cardiac autonomic dysfunction in patients with fibromyalgia.
AIM: Cardiac autonomic dysfunction (CAD) is frequently found in patients with fibromyalgia (FM). Thus, we evaluated whether heart rate variability (HRV) is superior to the Ewing tests in detecting CAD in FM patients. METHODS: We studied 35 females with FM and 25 age-matched healthy females. In Ewing tests, results were added to yield an overall score. An abnormal result on deep breathing, the Valsalva maneuver, or orthostatic standing was counted as 1 point. A change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) of > 10 mmHg while standing counted as 1 point, and a change of > 20 mmHg as 2 points. A score of 0 was regarded as no CAD, a score of ≥ 2 as severe CAD and a score of 1 as mild CAD. HRV was measured in two ways: by R-R intervals (time-domain analysis) and by spectral analysis of a series of successive R-R intervals (frequency-domain analysis). RESULTS: FM patients had significantly lower expiratory/inspiratory (E/I) ratios, lower Valsalva ratios and higher SBP values than healthy controls (P < 0.05, P < 0.05, P < 0.01, respectively). In the frequency domain, very low-frequency and low-frequency bands were also lower in FM patients than controls (both P < 0.05). Based on the discriminant analysis of the Ewing tests, 54.4% of cases were correctly classified. The addition of HRV parameters did not improve the reclassification. CONCLUSION: HRV does not improve detection of CAD in FM patients over classic autonomic testing.
Lee et al. (Fri,) conducted a case-control in Fibromyalgia (n=60). Heart rate variability (HRV) vs. Classic autonomic testing (Ewing tests) was evaluated on Correct classification of cases based on discriminant analysis. The addition of heart rate variability parameters to classic autonomic Ewing tests did not improve the correct classification of cardiac autonomic dysfunction in patients with fibromyalgia.