Impact of Elective Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA) on Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major public health problem in India and is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Impairment of heart rate variability (HRV) has been observed in patients with CAD. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is one of the common modalities of treatment of CAD. In this study we have studied the effect of successful elective PTCA on HRV parameters in patients with CAD. Material and Method: HRV parameters in both time and frequency domain were studied in 30 male patients before PTCA, one day and three day after PTCA. Results: - The time and frequency domain parameters between pre PTCA and 1 st day post PTCA were not found to be statistically significant. Changes in the time domain parameter rMSSD and SDNN was statistically significant between pre and 3 rd day post PTCA but no significant difference was observed in pNN50. A significant decrease in LF n.u and increase in HF n.u was observed between pre and 3 rd day post PTCA. Conclusion: Revascularization with PTCA results in improvement of the autonomic tone. Improved autonomic modulation is seen as early as 3 rd day post PTCA. It indicates that restoring the blood flow reverses to some extent the autonomic modulatory effect of coronary artery disease.