| Title | Autonomic dysfunction is associated with brief episodes of atrial fibrillation in type 2 diabetes. | ||
| Author | Rizzo, Maria Rosaria; Sasso, Ferdinando Carlo; Marfella, Raffaele; Siniscalchi, Mario; Paolisso, Pasquale; Carbonara, Ornella; Capoluongo, Maria Carmela; Lascar, Nadia; Pace, Caterina; Sardu, Celestino; Passavanti, Beatrice; Barbieri, Michelangela; Mauro, Ciro; Paolisso, Giuseppe | ||
| Journal | J Diabetes Complications | Publication Year/Month | 2015-Jan-Feb |
| PMID | 25266244 | PMCID | -N/A- |
| Affiliation + expend | 1.Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Geriatric Sciences, Second University of Naples, Italy. | ||
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between asymptomatic episodes of atrial fibrillation (AF) and abnormalities of the autonomic nervous system in type 2 diabetic patients who did not have evidence of atrial fibrillation at baseline. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a multicentric cross-sectional controlled study, 1992 patients with type 2 diabetes were screened. All underwent ambulatory ECG recording for 48-hour at 3, 6, 9, and 12months. Heart rate variability (HRV) was used as indicator of autonomic activity. One hundred seventy-six diabetics with silent atrial fibrillation episodes (SAFE group) and 288 without silent atrial fibrillation (non-SAFE group) were enrolled. These selected diabetics were matched on clinical and anthropometric data to 120 control subjects without diabetes of the control group. HRV analysis evidenced that LF/HF ratio was significantly higher in the SAFE group than in the non-SAFE group (P<0.05) in the whole period of HM analysis. AF absolute burdens were positively correlated with LF/HF ratio (r=0.31, P<0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed that LF/HF ratio was an independent determinant of AF episodes. CONCLUSIONS: This study originally showed a strong relationship between autonomic dysfunction and silent atrial fibrillation in type 2 diabetes.