Relationship between heart rate variability and radial artery spasm in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary angiography via radial access

E. Hatem, O. Aslan, S. Yıldırım

Department of Cardiology, Mersin City Training and Research Hospital, Mersin, Turkey. enginhatem@gmail.com

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• Cardiology

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship and predictive power between heart rate variability (HRV) and radial artery spasm, in cases where the radial artery is preferred as the access route for coronary angiography (CAG).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 394 patients, who were scheduled to have CAG were included in this study. Patients who developed radial artery spasms during CAG, performed using the radial artery as the access route, were analyzed for HRV parameters.

RESULTS: Ages of the patients ranged between 31 and 74 years. Significant time domain measurements such as the standard deviation of normal-normal (NN) intervals, the standard deviation of the averages of NN, the average of the standard deviations of all NN intervals, and root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats were statistically significantly lower in the patient group that developed radial artery spasm. Frequency field measurements with prognostic values such as HF (high frequency) and very low frequency were also statistically significantly lower in the patient group that developed radial artery spasms. On the other hand, there was no statistical difference between the groups in LF (low frequency) and LF/HF ratio measurements. A statistically significantly higher radial artery spasm rate was observed in the coexistence of anxiety and low HRV.

CONCLUSIONS: A significant decrease was found in major HRV values, which are closely related to the autonomic nervous system and its dysfunction, in patients with radial artery spasms.

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