Heart rate variability in Parkinson's disease patients treated with tolcapone.

Following the introduction of tolcapone, a potent, reversible Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor, it has been possible to optimise the management of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in chronic Levodopa (L-dopa) therapy. The interaction between tolcapone and the endogenous metabolism of catecholamines points to a possible influence on autonomic cardiovascular function.Cardiovascular reflexes have been analysed in a group of seven PD patients (four males, three females; mean age 69.

Twenty-four-hour heart rate variability to assess autonomic function in Parkinson's disease.

Objectives: To evaluate the autonomic dysfunction in Parkinson's disease patients by means of a 24-h heart rate variability (HRV) method.

Material And Methods: Thirteen patients with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease were compared with 13 age-matched healthy persons (control group). The 13 patients had a mean age of 70.

[Heart and autonomic nervous system in connective tissue disorders].

Unlabelled: Heart rate variability (HRV) is a suitable diagnostic tool in identifying patients with autonomic nervous system (ANS) disorders even in pre-clinical stage. We have enrolled in this study all patients with large variety of connective tissue disorders, given the possibility of an involvement of ANS in these diseases. The study population consisted in eighty-five patients (68 females and 17 males), 35 of whom affected by systemic lupus erythematosus, 16 by rheumatoid arthritis, 14 by Sjögren syndrome, 12 by progressive systemic sclerosis, 3 by Behçet syndrome and 5 by antiphospholipid antibodies syndrome.

[Arrhythmias in the aged: prevalence and correlation with symptoms].

Objective of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of arrhythmias as well as their correlation with the reported anamnestic symptomatology in the elderly population. With 24 hour ambulatory electrocardiography (Holter ECG) 913 patients, (440 males and 473 females, range 60-89 years, mean age 71) were consecutively studied and subdivided according to the following criteria: (1) age (3 classes: 60-69 [I], 70-79 [II], > or = 80 [III]; (2) presence/absence of "guide" symptoms (syncope/faintness, chest pain, palpitation), and (3) Holter electrocardiography results. We have demonstrated a high prevalence of arrhythmias: 72% (657), which was significantly higher in age classes II (80.

[The prevalence of arrhythmias in subjects over 80 years old. The prognostic role of anamnestic symptomatology and the therapeutic directions].

24-hour Holter monitoring was performed in 129 unselected subjects older than 80 years (69 women and 60 men) in order to evaluate arrhythmia incidence and to establish significance of symptoms; 56% patients had lipothymia and/or syncope, chest pain and palpitations, 44% were asymptomatic. All patients showed high incidence of hyperkinetic and hypokinetic arrhythmias; no significant differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients in arrhythmia incidence were seen. Moreover, no correlation could be seen of the symptoms reported by the patient to the incidence of any particular type of arrhythmia.

[Incidence and clinical significance of rhythm disorders in the elderly].

The goal of this study was the evaluation of cardiac arrhythmias in an unselected population of elderly patients by 24-hour Holter electrocardiography. An elevated incidence of hyperkinetic (62%) and hypokinetic arrhythmias (22.7%) were detected.

[The value of continued dynamic electrocardiography in the sick sinus syndrome].

An assessment was made of the usefulness of continuous dynamic ECG (CDE) in diagnosis of the sick sinus syndrome (SSS). It was found that CDE has the following advantages: ready repeatability; control of patients during such physiological activities as sleep; recording of the possibly fleeting and intermittent pathological episodes that characterise SSS. The conclusion is drawn that CDE is the soundest technique for the investigation of SSS, whereas electrophysiological examination, albeit complementary, could be limited to cases whose interpretation proves more difficult.

[The left ventricle in mitral valve insufficiency: echocardiographic evaluation and hemodynamic correlations].

We have assessed the value of echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular dimensions, as compared to the standard angiographic calculations, in patients (pts) with mitral regurgitation (MR). Of 126 such pts who had undergone echocardiography and cardiac catheterization, 57 were excluded because of associated congenital cardiac malformations, additional significant valvular disease(s) and technically unsatisfactory echocardiographic study. Of the remaining 69 pts, 24 had rheumatic MR (14 with associated mild stenosis); ischemic heart disease was the cause of MR in 1 pts; myxomatous degeneration was found in 12 and congestive cardiomyopathy in 7.