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Heart rate variability

Methodology and physiological basis

  • Chapter
Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology

Abstract

It is well-known that the autonomic nervous system plays an important role in the regulation of activities of the heart. The assessment of autonomic function has been a challenging problem confronting cardiologists for many years. Sinus respiratory arrhythmia has also been known for a long time, but the importance of heart rate variability (HRV) was not recognised until recently. The study in 1981 by Akselrod et al. [1] showed that different components of spectral HRV could be suppressed by muscarinic parasympa-thetic and/or β-adrenergic blockade and provided a cornerstone for the physiological basis of HRV. HRV has since been studied by several investigators in both animals and humans [2–6]. In 1987 Kleiger and colleagues [7] demonstrated that HRV is a useful risk predictor following myocardial infarction. At present, it is generally accepted that HRV reflects the autonomic modulation of firing of the sinus node and that the analysis of HRV is an established non-invasive method for the assessment of autonomie influence on the heart. In this chapter, we will review the methodology of HRV measurement, the physiological basis of HRV and the factors influencing HRV.

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Authors
  1. Lü Fel
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  2. Marek Malik
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Hospital Gasthuisberg O/N, Herestraat 49, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Andrè E. Aubert

  2. Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Hugo Ector

  3. Department of Cardiology, Sint-Jozef Hospital, Nieuwpoortsesteenweg 57, B-8400, Oostende, Belgium

    Roland Stroobandt

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Fel, L., Malik, M. (1994). Heart rate variability. In: Aubert, A.E., Ector, H., Stroobandt, R. (eds) Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0872-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0872-0_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4377-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-0872-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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