Comparing low frequency heart rate variability and preejection period: Two sides of a different coin

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that the ratio of heart rate variability in the low-(LF) and high-(HF) frequency bands may capture variation in cardiac sympathetic control. Here we tested the temporal stability of the LF/HF ratio in 24-h ambulatory recordings and compared this ratio to the preejection period (PEP), an established measure of cardiac sympathetic control. Good temporal stability was found across a period of 3.3 years (.46oro.78), but the LF/HF ratio did not show the expected negative correlation to PEP, either between or within subjects. We conclude that the evidence to support the LF/HF ratio as a potential marker of cardiac sympathetic control in epidemiology-scaled research is currently insufficient.

Autonomy of Autonomic Dysfunction in Major Depression

“…Applying this parameter, a better discrimination between groups was achieved in contrast to established linear time and frequency domain measures, such as RMSSD or LF/HF ratio. Thus, our data underline the advantage of novel nonlinear measures and support previous concerns on the validity of frequency domain measures, such as LF/HF ratio (25).…”

“…In particular, we obtained the square root of the mean squared differences of successive normal-to-normal intervals (RMSSD). Furthermore, the quotient of lowfrequency (0.04 -0.15 Hz) and high-frequency (0.15-0.4Hz) components (LF/HF ratio) was calculated as a supposed measure of sympathovagal balance (24,25).…”

Altered Patterns of Heartbeat-Evoked Potentials in Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder

“…AA is a protein that is associated with the release of norepinephrine due to sympathetic activation (68), and its secretion is predominantly mediated by peripheral β 1 -adrenoceptors (69,70). In contrast, nLF HR variability is considered a cardiac indicator of central sympathetic control (71)(72)(73). The current findings suggest that the dysregulation of the SAM axis in patients with DPD may be limited to the peripheral branch, that is, the release of catecholamines.…”

Everything Hertz: methodological issues in short-term frequency-domain HRV

“…Likewise, there are dissociations between other measurements of SNS via impedance cardiograph (Goedhart et al, 2008), salivary alpha-amylase (Nater et al, 2007; Kobayashi et al, 2012), circulating epinephrine/norepinephrine (Sloan et al, 1996), and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (Grassi and Esler, 1999). This evidence has been recently covered at length (Goldstein et al, 2011; Reyes del Paso et al, 2013).…”