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Usefulness of tilt-induced heart rate changes in the differential diagnosis of vasovagal syncope and chronic autonomic failure

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Abstract

Objective

To determine whether the heart rate changes during tilt table testing could be used in the differential diagnosis between vasovagal syncope and chronic autonomic failure.

Methods

We compared the relationship between electrocardiographic R-R intervals and beat-to-beat blood pressure in 43 patients with typical vasovagal responses and 30 patients with chronic autonomic failure (6 pure autonomic failure, 23 multiple system atrophy, and 1 Parkinson’s disease).

Results

In every patient with vasovagal syncope, at the time when the blood pressure was falling, it was possible to identify at least 12 successive heart beats (mean 33 ± 2 heart beat, range 12–57) when blood pressure and heart rate fell in parallel, i.e., there was a negative relationship between blood pressure and R-R intervals (P < 0.001). In contrast, the relationship between blood pressure and R-R intervals in patients with chronic autonomic failure was never negative, i.e., heart rate always increased, albeit less than expected for the given fall in blood pressure, or remained unchanged.

Interpretation

The heart rate changes during the fall in blood pressure can distinguish patients with vasovagal responses from those with chronic autonomic failure.

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Acknowledgments

Supported in part by NIH Grant R01 DC 04212.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dysautonomia Research Laboratory, Dysautonomia Center, Department of Neurology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Maria J. Téllez, Lucy J. Norcliffe-Kaufmann, Svetlana Lenina, Andrei Voustianiouk & Horacio Kaufmann

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  1. Maria J. Téllez
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  2. Lucy J. Norcliffe-Kaufmann
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  3. Svetlana Lenina
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  4. Andrei Voustianiouk
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  5. Horacio Kaufmann
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Correspondence to Horacio Kaufmann.

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Téllez, M.J., Norcliffe-Kaufmann, L.J., Lenina, S. et al. Usefulness of tilt-induced heart rate changes in the differential diagnosis of vasovagal syncope and chronic autonomic failure. Clin Auton Res 19, 375–380 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-009-0039-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-009-0039-9

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