Decreased baroreflex sensitivity in patients with stable coronary artery disease is correlated with the severity of coronary narrowing.

Although studies have shown that arterial baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is decreased in patients with acute myocardial infarction, BRS changes in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) have not been studied extensively. We assessed BRS by the phenylephrine method in 55 normotensive and nondiabetic patients with chronic effort angina, old myocardial infarction, or both. The control group consisted of 24 age-matched patients without coronary lesions. To identify factors that determine BRS in stable CAD, we performed multivariate analysis using age, sex, left ventricular ejection fraction, pulmonary artery wedge pressure, resting systolic blood pressure, resting heart rate, the number of stenotic coronary arteries, history of myocardial infarction, and the presence or absence of angina pectoris as variables. BRS was significantly lower in patients with CAD than in control subjects (5.9 +/- 2.9 vs 6.9 +/- 2.4 ms/mm Hg, p < 0.05). In patients with CAD, BRS was inversely correlated with age, the resting heart rate, and the number of stenotic coronary vessels (p < 0.001, p < 0.005, and p < 0.005, respectively), but was independent of other clinical parameters, including the history of myocardial infarction. In control subjects, BRS was significantly correlated only with age. These results indicate that BRS is decreased in patients with stable CAD, and this decrease is correlated with the extent and severity of coronary narrowing.