Silent Myocardial Ischemia as a Result of Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy

Abstract

Aim: to verify the effect of vegetative nervous system on the silent myocardial ischemia.Materials and methods. We included in this study 56 patients with functional class II–III effort angina (22 men and 34 women, age 45–49 years) with silent myocardial ischemia (SMI). Examination included 24hour blood pressure and ECG monitoring.Results. We revealed the interrelation between elevation of parameters of heart rhythm variability reflecting activity of parasympathetic nervous system and ST segment depression depth during episodes of SMI. Also, а significant interrelationship was found between SMI duration and degree of nocturnal diastolic blood pressure decrease which reflected parasympathetic nervous system activity.Conclusion. Silent myocardial ischemia more often occurred at the background of elevated activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.