Fréquence cardiaque élevée comme facteur de risque cardiovasculaire: que dit l'évidence?

Resting heart rate determines life expectancy in mammals. In humans, several studies observed an association between high resting heart rate and increased mortality in subjects with moderate (elderly, hypertensive or diabetics) and high cardiovascular risk (acute myocardial infarction or chronic ischaemic cardiopathy). Moreover, new epidemiologic studies accuse high heart rate (>80 beats per minute) as an independent cardiovascular risk factor in the general population. We briefly present the so far accumulated evidence on this topic and expose some important pathophysiological aspects before discussing the impact of therapies aiming to decrease heart rate.