PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF HEART-RATE-VARIABILITY IN CHRONIC CONGESTIVE-HEART-FAILURE SECONDARY TO IDIOPATHIC OR ISCHEMIC DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY

Autonomic dysfunction in chronic heart failure (CHF) is reflected by n eurohumoral activation,(1) baroreceptor dysfunction,(2) and impairment of heart rate (HR) variability.(3) Recently it was shown that impairm ent of HR variability significantly correlates with the severity of CH F.(4) However, whether this impairment of HR variability is also relat ed to mortality in CHF patients is thus far unknown, Therefore, the ai m of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic value of HR vari ability, and to relate this to other well-known prognostic parameters in a large group of patients with CHF.