EFFECTS OF BETA-BLOCKADE WITH BISOPROLOL ON HEART-RATE-VARIABILITY INADVANCED HEART-FAILURE - ANALYSIS OF SCATTERPLOTS OF R-R INTERVALS ATSELECTED HEART-RATES
X. Copie et al., EFFECTS OF BETA-BLOCKADE WITH BISOPROLOL ON HEART-RATE-VARIABILITY INADVANCED HEART-FAILURE - ANALYSIS OF SCATTERPLOTS OF R-R INTERVALS ATSELECTED HEART-RATES, The American heart journal, 132(2), 1996, pp. 369-375
The effect of beta-blockade on heart-rate variability was assessed at
different heart rates in 52 patients with heart failure included in th
e randomized, placebo-controlled, Cardiac Insufficiency Bisoprolol Stu
dy (CIBIS). Scatterplots of R-R intervals display beat-to-beat variabi
lity by plotting each R-R interval against the preceding interval. Sca
tterplot dispersion at different R-R intervals provides a measure of b
eat-to-beat heart-rate variability at different heart rates. A 24-hour
Holter tape was performed at baseline and after 2 months of treatment
with bisoprolol or matched placebo. Geometric measurements of scatter
plots were used to determine beat-to-beat dispersion for different R-R
intervals. Bisoprolol and placebo groups were well matched at baselin
e. After 2 months of treatment, bisoprolol significantly increased bea
t-to-beat variability at the longest R-R intervals (p < 0.05); however
, there was no change in scatterplot dispersion at the shortest R-R in
tervals. This suggests that beta-blockade increases parasympathetic or
decreases sympathetic tone or both in heart failure patients only at
the slowest heart rates.