HEART-RATE-VARIABILITY IN PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS

As patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) survive their epis odes of disease activity, increasing morbidity is shown to be related to chronic cardiovascular complications. The objective of this study w as to assess the cardiac parasympathetic autonomic functional status, as reflected by heart rate variability, in SLE patients with and witho ut corticosteroid treatment. A cross-sectional study of SLE patients a ttending the Arthritis Clinic was done, using age and gender-matched c ontrols. Thirty-four female patients, age 39 +/- 11, were entered, 20 of whom were receiving steroids at the time of study. Time and frequen cy domain heart rate variability indices were significantly reduced in the SLE groups with and without corticosteroid therapy, as compared t o controls. The indices were not, however, significantly different in the two SLE groups.