A new method to assess ventricular wall stress in patients with heart failure and its relation to heart rate variability.

Introduction: Heart failure is characterized by an increase in cardiac load, wall stress and autonomic dysfunction. The neurohumoral imbalance arising from adrenergic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal is associated with worse prognosis. We addressed the hypothesis that an increased left ventricular (LV) wall stress as assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in patients with heart failure is related to a depression of heart rate variability (HRV).

Methods: Cardiac function and mass were measured in 37 individuals with suspected cardiomyopathy using CMR imaging. A thick-walled sphere model was used to calculate ventricular wall stress. Time domain analysis of HRV was obtained by long-term Holter ECG.

Results: Standard deviation of both normal-to-normal (NN) intervals (SDNN) and average NN intervals over 5 minutes (SDANN-i) were negatively correlated with LV enddiastolic wall stress (r = 0.42, P < 0.01). SDNN and SDANN-i were severely decreased (P < 0.01) in patients with increased enddiastolic LV wall stress > 12 kPa (vs. normal range: < 4 kPa).

Conclusion: A relation between increased cardiac wall stress and depressed heart rate variability was observed in patients with heart failure. CMR-based measurement of LV volume and mass is appropriate to calculate LV wall stress which should be considered not only as a potential prognostic determinant but also as therapeutic target.