Determinants and Prognostic Value of Cardiovascular Autonomic Function in Coronary Artery Disease Patients with and without Type 2 Diabetes

Objective Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction is a common finding among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The reasons and prognostic value of autonomic dysfunction in CAD patients with T2D are not well known. Researh design and methods We examined the association between heart rate recovery (HRR), 24-hour HR variability (SDNN) and heart rate turbulence (HRT), and echocardiographic parameters, metabolic, inflammatory, and coronary risk variables, exercise capacity, and presence of T2D among 1060 patients with CAD (age 67 ± 8 years, 69% males, 50% patients with T2D). Secondly, we investigated how autonomic function predicts a composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, acute coronary event, stroke, and hospitalization for heart failure during a 2-year follow-up. Results In multiple linear regression model, exercise capacity was a strong predictor of HRR (R = 0.34, p Conclusions Cardiovascular autonomic function in CAD patients is associated with several variables, including exercise capacity. Autonomic dysfunction predicts short-term cardiovascular events among CAD patients with T2D, but it is not as strong independent predictor as hs-CRP.