Premium
Rate‐Control Drugs Affect Variability and Irregularity Measures of RR Intervals in Patients with Permanent Atrial Fibrillation
Author(s) -
CORINO VALENTINA D.A.,
ULIMOEN SARA R.,
ENGER STEVE,
MAINARDI LUCA T.,
TVEIT ARNLJOT,
PLATONOV PYOTR G.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of cardiovascular electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.193
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1540-8167
pISSN - 1045-3873
DOI - 10.1111/jce.12580
Subject(s) - medicine , metoprolol , diltiazem , cardiology , atrial fibrillation , verapamil , heart rate variability , digoxin , heart rate , sample entropy , carvedilol , anesthesia , heart failure , blood pressure , calcium , artificial intelligence , pattern recognition (psychology) , computer science
Heart Rate Variability and Irregularity During AF Introduction Irregularity measures have been suggested as risk indicators in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF); however, it is not known to what extent they are affected by commonly used rate‐control drugs. We aimed at evaluating the effect of metoprolol, carvedilol, diltiazem, and verapamil on the variability and irregularity of the ventricular response in patients with permanent AF. Methods and Results Sixty patients with permanent AF were part of an investigator‐blind cross‐over study, comparing 4 rate‐control drugs (diltiazem, verapamil, metoprolol, and carvedilol). We analyzed five 20‐minute segments per patient: baseline and the 4 drug regimens. On every segment, heart rate (HR) variability and irregularity of RR series were computed. The variability was assessed as standard deviation, pNN20, pNN50, pNN80, and rMSSD. The irregularity was assessed by regularity index, approximate (ApEn), and sample entropy. A significantly lower HR was obtained with all drugs, the HR was lowest using the calcium channel blockers. All drugs increased the variability of ventricular response in respect to baseline (as an example, rMSSD: baseline 171 ± 47 milliseconds, carvedilol 229 ± 58 milliseconds; P < 0.05 vs. baseline, metoprolol 226 ± 66 milliseconds; P < 0.05 vs. baseline, verapamil 228 ± 84; P < 0.05 vs. baseline, diltiazem 256 ± 87 milliseconds; P < 0.05 vs. baseline and all other drugs). Only β‐blockers significantly increased the irregularity of the RR series (as an example, ApEn: baseline 1.86 ± 0.13, carvedilol 1.92 ± 0.09; P < 0.05 vs. baseline, metoprolol 1.93 ± 0.08; P < 0.05 vs. baseline, verapamil 1.86 ± 0.22 ns, diltiazem 1.88 ± 0.16 ns). Conclusion Modification of AV node conduction by rate‐control drugs increase RR variability, while only β‐blockers affect irregularity.