Title | Correlation between sonographic morphology and function of the cervical vagus nerves. | ||
Author | Pelz, Johann Otto; Belau, Elena; Menze, Ina; Woost, Timo B; Classen, Joseph; Weise, David | ||
Journal | Auton Neurosci | Publication Year/Month | 2019-Sep |
PMID | 31126827 | PMCID | -N/A- |
Affiliation + expend | 1.Department of Neurology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: johann.pelz@medizin.uni-leipzig.de. |
The heart receives parasympathetic and to a lesser degree sympathetic input via the vagus nerve. Here, we investigated whether morphological changes of the cervical vagus nerves (VN) as assessed by high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) correlated with the autonomic cardiac innervation. Measurement of heart rate variability (HRV) and HRUS of the VNs were performed in 88 healthy subjects (50 female; mean age 56鈥?/-鈥?8鈥痽ears). HRV parameters and the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the VNs correlated both inversely with age. We also found an inverse correlation between the left VN-CSA and HRV as well as parasympathetic parameters. The results imply an asymmetric parasympathetic (vagal) innervation of the heart.