Analysis of Heart Rate Variability in Patients BPH

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To characterize autonomic dysfunction in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH), we measured heart rate variability(HRV) and analyzed them compared with those of normal population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ECG signals were obtained from 11 male patients(mean age, 63.1 years) and 23 healthy male controls(mean age, 57.0 years) in resting state. We analyzed their parameters of HRV and compared them between groups. RESULTS: Time domain analysis including standard deviation of NN interval(SDNN), square root of mean of sum of squares of differences between adjacent NN intervals(RMSSD) in patients with BPH were not significantly different with those of controls. There were suggested evidence of decreased total power(TP), high frequency (HF) in patients with BPH(p<0.05) while no significant difference in other frequency domain such as very low frequency(VLF), low frequency(LF) and LF/HF ratio. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study shows that patients with BPH have different results on HRV study comparing to controls. With the exception of LF and LF/HF ratio, all parameters of HRV in patients with BPH lower than normal controls. TP, HF in patients with BPH significantly lower than that of normal controls. The decreased values of HRV study means that they may have some kinds of disease or imbalance in autonomic nervous system(ANS). So we suggest that HRV study may be a tool to describe the possibility of altered ANS activity in patients with BPH.