Anaysis of heart rate recovery after exercise treadmill testing in patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction

Objective To investigate the changes in heart rate recovery(HRR) after maximal exercise treadmill testing in patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction(LVDD).Methods Echocardiography and treadmill exercise testing were performed in 83 patients with LVDD and 37 health controls.Heart rate(HR) was measured at rest,at maximum exercise and at 1,2,and 3 minutes into recovery,percent recovery of HRR at 1,2,and 3 minute(HRR1%,HRR2%,HRR3%) were calculated.Results There was no significant difference in resting heart,predicted HR reserve,HRR1%,HRR2%,METs and exercise time(P0.05).While peak heart rate(127±16 bpm vs 140±14 bpm),HR reserve(43±17 bpm vs 53±14 bpm),HRR2(34±8 bpm vs 42±14 bpm),HRR3(39±12 bpm vs 49±13 bpm) and HRR3%(30±8 vs 35±8) were significantly lower in patients with LVDD than that in the healthy subjects(P0.05). Conclusions HRR is markedly attenuated in LVDD patients comared with healthy subjects and it is postulated that these patients could have early abnormal modulation of cardiac autonomic activity.