Evaluation of cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction according to heart rate turbulence and variability in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by neurodegeneration or demyelination, and the relapsing?remitting phase of MS is characterized by acute exacerbation of disease activity. The most commonly used non-invasive approach to assess autonomic function is the determination of heart rate turbulence (HRT) and heart rate variability (HRV). The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction using HRT and HRV parameters determined via 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring in patients with relapsing-remitting MS without known heart disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 26 patients diagnosed with relapsing?remitting MS and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. HRT and HRV parameters were analyzed via 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring. Magnetic resonance imaging findings were re-evaluated to identify any demyelinating lesions in the brain stem.

RESULTS: The HRV parameters of SDNNI (mean of the standard deviations of all normal sinus RR intervals in all 5-minute segments), rMSSD (root-mean-square successive difference), and sNN50 (percentage of successive normal sinus RR intervals > 50 ms) were significantly lower in the MS group than in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: This study revealed that patients with MS had reduced HRV; this was demonstrated by dysfunction with regard to parasympathetic and sympathetic parameters in HRV analysis.