Effects of antihypertensive treatment on cardiovascular autonomic control: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of study was to propose an approach to the control of dynamics of autonomic dysfunction in cardiovascular system (CVS) under antihypertensive treatment (AT) in patients with arterial hypertension (AH), based on individual features of synchronization of 0.1-Hz rhythms in heart rate (HR) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) and spectral indices of heart rate variability (HRV).
METHODS: We designed prospective cohort diagnostic accuracy and studied 105 AH patients (66 females) aged 47±8 years during 8 weeks. The HRV spectral indices and the index S of synchronization between the 0.1-Hz rhythms in HR and PPG during a tilt test are compared in their ability to control the AT with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) (fosinopril or enalapril) and β-blockers (atenolol or metoprolol). We apply Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests.
RESULTS: It is shown that the power of low-frequency (LF) band in HRV spectrum and index S can be used as criteria for initial assessment of the status of autonomic regulation in AH patients. The patients with S<25% in vertical body's position and LF>250 ms2 in horizontal body's position require ACE-Is treatment. The AH patients with LF<350 ms2 and S<30% in vertical body's position require β-blocker treatment. The AH patients with S>25% and LF>250 ms2 in horizontal body's position do not require any ACE-Is or β-blocker treatment. Both drug groups can be used in patients with low values of index S and low power of LF band in HRV spectrum.
CONCLUSION: The control of AT can be carried out in AH patients taking into account the individual features of autonomic dysfunction in CVS. Sensitivity and specificity of our approach were 65% and 73%, respectively.