Influence of peripheral arterial disease and supervised walking on heart rate variability

Objective To examine the influence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) on heart rate variability (HRV) in patients, and to examine the influence of an intense long-term (12 months) exercise program on HRV in PAD patients. Methods This study involved ambulatory patients attending a local hospital an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of vascular surgery 2011-11, Vol.54 (5), p.1352-1359
Main Authors: Leicht, Anthony S., PhD, Crowther, Robert G., PhD, Golledge, Jonathan, MChir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Ankle Brachial Index
Atherosclerosis (general aspects, experimental research)
Biological and medical sciences
Blood and lymphatic vessels
Cardiology. Vascular system
Cardiovascular Agents - therapeutic use
Combined Modality Therapy
Exercise Test
Exercise Therapy
Exercise Tolerance
Female
Heart Rate
Humans
Intermittent Claudication - diagnosis
Intermittent Claudication - physiopathology
Intermittent Claudication - therapy
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Peripheral Arterial Disease - diagnosis
Peripheral Arterial Disease - physiopathology
Peripheral Arterial Disease - therapy
Queensland
Surgery
Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases
Time Factors
Treatment Outcome
Vascular surgery: aorta, extremities, vena cava. Surgery of the lymphatic vessels
Walking
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Summary:Objective To examine the influence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) on heart rate variability (HRV) in patients, and to examine the influence of an intense long-term (12 months) exercise program on HRV in PAD patients. Methods This study involved ambulatory patients attending a local hospital and university center. Participants were twenty-five patients with diagnosed PAD and intermittent claudication and 24 healthy, age-matched adults. Interventions involved random allocation of PAD patients to 12 months of conservative medical treatment (Conservative) or medical treatment with supervised treadmill walking (Exercise). The main outcome measures were time- and frequency-domain, nonlinear HRV measures during supine rest, and maximal walking capacity prior to and following the intervention. Results Despite significantly worse walking capacity (285 ± 190 m vs 941 ± 336 m; P < .05), PAD patients exhibited similar resting HRV to healthy adults. At the 12-month follow-up, Exercise patients exhibited a significantly greater improvement in walking capacity (183% ± 185% vs 57% ± 135%; P = .03) with similar small nonsignificant changes in HRV compared with Conservative patients. Conclusions The current study demonstrated that PAD patients exhibited similar resting HRV to healthy adults with 12 months of intense supervised walking producing similar HRV changes to that of conservative medical treatment. The greater walking capacity of healthy adults and PAD patients following supervised exercise does not appear to be associated with enhanced HRV.
ISSN:0741-5214
1097-6809
DOI:10.1016/j.jvs.2011.05.027