Research into heart rate variability (HRV) and respiration over the past 150 years has led to the insight that HRV with deep breathing (HRVdb) is a highly sensitive measure of cardiovagal or parasympathetic cardiac function. This sensitivity makes HRVdb an important part of the battery of cardiovascular autonomic function tests used in clinical autonomic laboratories. HRVdb is a reliable and sensitive clinical test for early detection of cardiovagal dysfunction in a wide range of autonomic disorders.