LAUSR

OBJECTIVE To analyze the association between cardiac autonomic modulation and arterial stiffness in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). DESIGN Cross-sectional. MATERIAL AND METHODS One hundred and fourteen patients were assessed for heart rate variability (HRV) within time- (standard deviation of all RR intervals - SDNN, root mean square of the successive differences between adjacent normal RR intervals - RMSSD, and the proportion of successive RR intervals that differed by more than 50 ms - pNN50) and frequency (low - LF; high - HF) domains. Arterial stiffness was assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). Crude and adjusted linear regression analyses examined the relationship between HRV and cfPWV. RESULTS Non-significant crude associations were identified between cfPWV and RMSSD (P=0.181), SDNN (P=0.105), pNN50 (P=0.087), LF (P=0.376), HF (P=0.175) and LF/HF ratio (P=0.426). After adjustments for age, sex, smoking, body mass index, ankle-brachial index and use of beta-blockers, significant associations were identified between cfPWV and RMSSD (P=0.037), SDNN (P=0.049) and pNN50 (P=0.049). CONCLUSION Cardiac autonomic modulation was significantly associated with arterial stiffness in patients with PAD after adjustment for confounding factors. This relationship may contribute to the enhanced cardiovascular disease risk for PAD patients and provides a target for strategies to improve patient clinical outcomes.