RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Depression and heart rate variability in patients with coronary heart disease
JF Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
JO Cleve Clin J Med
FD Cleveland Clinic
SP S13
OP S17
DO 10.3949/ccjm.76.s2.03
VO 76
IS 4 suppl 2
A1 Robert M. Carney
A1 Kenneth E. Freedland
YR 2009
UL http://www.ccjm.org/content/76/4_suppl_2/S13.abstract
AB Depression is common in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and is a risk factor for cardiac morbidity and mortality in these patients. Depression is associated with autonomic nervous system dysfunction, which may at least partially explain this increased risk. Low heart rate variability (HRV), which reflects excessive sympathetic and/or inadequate parasympathetic modulation of heart rate, is a strong predictor of mortality in patients with CHD. Most studies—both in patients with stable CHD and in patients with a recent acute coronary event—have found HRV to be lower in depressed patients than in their nondepressed counterparts. This manuscript provides an overview of this literature and concludes that HRV may account for a substantial part of the risk associated with depression in CHD.