Reflex versus tonic vagal activity as a prognostic parameter in patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.

Abstract

The results of this study indicate that postmyocardial infarction patients who develop life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias, compared with carefully matched postinfarction patients without major arrhythmic episodes, differ strikingly in terms of baroreflex sensitivity but not in terms of heart rate variability. This finding may have implications for the risk stratification of postinfarction patients and may lead to a differential therapeutic strategy based on autonomic testing.