| Title | Cardiac autonomic dysfunction and functional outcome after ischaemic stroke. | ||
| Author | Bassi, A; Colivicchi, F; Santini, M; Caltagirone, C | ||
| Journal | Eur J Neurol | Publication Year/Month | 2007-Aug |
| PMID | 17662015 | PMCID | -N/A- |
| Affiliation | 1.I.R.C.C.S. Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy. a.bassi@hsantalucia.it. | ||
ischaemic stroke has been associated with an impairment of cardiac autonomic balance. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of cardiac autonomic derangement on functional outcome after a rehabilitation program in patients with recent ischaemic stroke. The study population included 85 consecutive first-ever stroke survivors (46 men and 39 women; mean age 60.0 +/- 12.4 years), who underwent 24-h Holter monitoring before the beginning of a 60-day rehabilitation program. Time-domain measures of heart-rate variability (HRV) were considered in all cases. By the end of the rehabilitation program an unfavorable functional outcome with dependency (Barthel Index score of <75) was found in 44.7% of patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age [odds ratio (OR) 1.09, 95% CI 1.04-1.19, P = 0.002], stroke severity (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.01-1.34, P = 0.004), Barthel Index score (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.87-0.98, P = 0.01) and Rankin Scale score (OR 3.88, 95% CI 2.13-7.56, P = 0.02) on admission, as well as lower values of the standard deviation of normal-to-normal R wave to R wave (RR) intervals (OR 9.67, 95% CI 2.58-18.67, P = 0.006) were independent predictors of an unfavorable functional outcome. Assessment of HRV before a rehabilitation program may provide additional information on the probability of a functional recovery in stroke survivors.