Heart rate recovery after exercise and coronary atheroma in asymptomatic individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A study using 64-slice coronary CT angiography

Impaired heart rate recovery after exercise (HRR) is a marker of autonomic dysfunction and a predictor of long-term mortality either directly or due to associated cardiovascular disease. In a cohort of 552 asymptomatic type 2 diabetics (age 63.2 ± 5.4 yr, 54.9% women) participating in a long-term prospective outcomes study, we examined the hypothesis that cardiac autonomic dysfunction, as demonstrated by HRR in the first minute after exercise, is an independent correlate of multivessel coronary artery atheroma. HRR1 was reduced in patients with any coronary plaque (p = 0.012), multivessel coronary plaque (p = 0.006), and coronary stenosis (p = 0.027). However, the association was not independent of the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study risk score thus it appears to be related to the adverse risk profile of these patients.