Aortic propagation velocity in the prediction of coronary artery disease severity.

AIMS: To investigate the association of the aortic propagation velocity (APV) with coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP) through SYNTAX scores (SS). METHODS: The study population comprised 214 SAP subjects who received a coronary angiography. The APV and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) were examined and SS was calculated. Subjects were grouped following specific SS criteria: SS less than 22 (low) and SS greater than or equal to 22 (high). RESULTS: High SS subjects had lower APV compared to low SS [39.0 (32.0-51.7) vs. 55.0 (45.0-62.0) cm/s, respectively; P<0.001] and higher CIMT (0.86 ± 0.24 vs. 0.74 ± 0.21 mm, respectively; P<0.001). APV demonstrated a negative correlation with the CIMT (r=-0.239, P<0.001), age (r=-0.188, P=0.006) , and SS (r=-0.561, P<0.001) and showed a positive association with LV ejection fraction (r=0.163, P=0.017). APV, CIMT, diabetes, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and age were determined to be markers independently of a high SS. CONCLUSION: APV, CIMT, diabetes, LDL-C and age are independently linked to the CAD severity of SAP subjects. Decreased APV, an indicator of subclinical atherosclerosis, may independently help determine the severity of atherosclerotic CAD in SAP patients.

Altered cardiac autonomic function after recovery from COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Autonomic dysfunction may occur during the acute phase of COVID-19. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a useful tool for the assessment of cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic balance. We aimed to evaluate cardiac autonomic function by using HRV in subjects after recovery from COVID-19 who had previously symptomatic and were followed outpatiently. METHODS: The study group composed of 50 subjects with a confirmed history of COVID-19 and the control group composed of 50 healthy subjects without a history of COVID-19 and vaccination. All the study participants underwent 2-dimensional, pulsed- and tissue-Doppler echocardiographic examinations and 24-hour Holter monitoring for HRV analysis. RESULTS: Time domain parameters of SDNN, SDANN, SDNNi, RMSSD, pNN50, and HRV triangular index were all decreased in the study group when compared with the control group. Frequency domain parameters of TP, VLF, LF, HF, and HFnu were also decreased in the study group in comparison with the control group. LFnu was similar between groups. Nonlinear parameters of HRV including α1 and α2 decreased in the study group. By contrast, Lmax, Lmean, DET, REC, and Shannon entropy increased in the study population. Approximate and sample entropies also enhanced in the study group. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that all three domain HRV significantly altered in patients after recovery from COVID-19 indicating some degree of dysfunction in cardiac autonomic nervous system. HRV may be a useful tool for the detection of preclinical autonomic dysfunction in this group of patients.