Comparison of objective methods to classify the pattern of respiratory sinus arrhythmia during mechanical ventilation and paced spontaneous breathing.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a fluctuation of heart period that occurs during a respiratory cycle. It has been suggested that inspiratory heart period acceleration and expiratory deceleration during spontaneous ventilation (henceforth named positive RSA) improve the efficiency of gas exchange compared to the absence or the inversion of such a pattern (negative RSA). During mechanical ventilation (MV), for which maximizing the efficiency of gas exchange is of critical importance, the pattern of RSA is still the object of debate. In order to gain a better insight into this matter, we compared five different methods of RSA classification using the data of five mechanically ventilated piglets. The comparison was repeated using the data of 15 volunteers undergoing a protocol of paced spontaneous breathing, which is expected to result in a positive RSA pattern. The results showed that the agreement between the employed methods is limited, suggesting that the lack of a consensus about the RSA pattern during MV is, at least in part, of methodological origin. However, independently of the method used, the pattern of RSA within the respiratory cycle was not consistent among the subjects and conditions of MV considered. Also, the outcomes showed that even during paced spontaneous breathing a negative RSA pattern might be present, when a low respiratory frequency is imposed.

Model based analysis of the heart rate and blood pressure relationship.

The main intention of this contribution is to measure the coupling between bivariate time series using the dual sequence method to estimate the baroreflex as well as a nonlinear regression approach, namely the maximal correlation method, to get a better understanding of the underlying processes. The data we analyse are heart rate and blood pressure variability time series from 27 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy as well as from a control group of 27 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. The results strongly indicate and confirm the mechanisms of respiratory sinus arrhythmia in heart rate. Revealing the coupling direction and the strength of coupling between heart rate and blood pressure via optimal transformations in addition to the baroreflex estimation seems to be a very promising approach.

The values and limitations of deductive analysis and electrophysiological testing in patients with sinoatrial arrhythmias.

We reviewed the values and the limitations of deductive analysis and electrophysiological testing of sinoatrial arrhythmias (SAA). Both methods have a place in the evaluation of SAA and are complementary. Careful analysis of the surface ECG and the response of the sinus node to various tachyarrhythmias and to atrial premature beats can provide important information about the automaticity of the sinus node and sinoatrial and atriosinus conduction. Because of the sporadic nature of some SAA, the surface ECG sometimes must be supplemented by ambulatory ECG recording. This approach improves one's ability to analyze the underlying mechanism and it can also clarify the relation between the SAA and the patient's symptoms. Electrophysiological testing can be employed to reproduce certain SAA and to assess the effects of various drugs on sinus node function. This approach is superior to deductive analysis in the identification of some sinoatrial conduction abnormalities and sinus node reentry. Among the disadvantages of electrophysiological testing are its invasive character and the fact that normal electrophysiological results do not exclude sinus node dysfunction. A definitive clarification of the underlying mechanism of SAA requires direct recording of the sinus node electrogram.

The use of R-R interval and difference histograms in classifying disorders of sinus rhythm.

A data reduction technique is presented which enables the patterns of cardiac rhythm inherent in a long-term ECG recording to be described in a concise fashion. The method consists in combining an R-R interval difference histogram, which gives information about the detailed structure of cardiac rhythm patterns, with an R-R interval histogram, which concisely describes the trends in heart rate over a period. Example of the histogram patterns corresponding to some common cardiac rhythms are presented. The histograms can be treated mathematically to yield information which is useful in assessing the long-term effects of drugs and in classifying disorders of cardiac rhythm.