Cardiac autonomic modulation impairments in advanced breast cancer patients (original) (raw)

Profile of Cardiovascular Autonomic Dysfunctions in Breast Cancer Patients

Cureus

Background Patients on breast cancer chemotherapy frequently present with signs and symptoms of autonomic dysfunction. Cardiac autonomic dysfunction (CAD) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, affecting the quality of life with progressive advancing disease. It is associated with the short survival of breast cancer patients. Therefore, thoroughly assessing cardiovascular autonomic functions is crucial to monitor these patients' disease prognosis and chemotherapy side effects. The present study evaluated baseline heart rate variability (HRV) and Ewing's battery of cardiac autonomic reactivity tests in breast cancer patients on chemotherapy to evaluate CAD. Methodology This is a case-control study. Autonomic reactivity tests were performed in the autonomic function laboratory,

Heart Rate Variability in Breast Cancer Survivors After the First Year of Treatments: A Case-Controlled Study

Biological research for nursing, 2015

The same aggressive treatments that have led to a reduction in the breast cancer may also have adverse effects on cardiac autonomic balance. The objective of this study was to compare heart rate variability (HRV) between breast cancer survivors in the first year posttreatment and healthy women, controlling for known confounders. This descriptive case-controlled study included 22 breast cancer survivors and 22 healthy age-and sex-matched controls. Short-term HRV was measured using an accepted methodology to assess the cardiac autonomic balance. One-way analysis of covariance results revealed that heart rate was significantly higher (F ¼ 15.86, p < .001) and the standard deviation of normal-to-normal (NN) interval (F ¼ 19.93, p ¼ .001), square root of mean squared differences of successive NN intervals (F ¼ 18.72, p ¼ .001), HRV index (F ¼ 5.44, p ¼ .025), and high-frequency (F ¼ 5.77, p ¼ .03) values were significantly lower in the breast cancer survivors than in the matched controls. The principal finding of the presence of a cardiovascular imbalance in breast cancer survivors in comparison to healthy age-matched controls suggests that HRV study could be a clinically useful tool to detect cardiovascular disease in early-stage breast cancer survivors.

Autonomic dysfunction in early breast cancer: Incidence, clinical importance, and underlying mechanisms

American Heart Journal, 2015

Autonomic dysfunction represents a loss of normal autonomic control of the cardiovascular system associated with both sympathetic nervous system overdrive and reduced efficacy of the parasympathetic nervous system. Autonomic dysfunction is a strong predictor of future coronary heart disease, vascular disease and sudden cardiac death. In the current review, we will discuss the clinical importance of autonomic dysfunction as a cardiovascular risk marker among breast cancer patients. We will review the effects of antineoplastic therapy on autonomic function, as well as discuss secondary exposures, such as psychological stress, sleep disturbances, weight gain/ metabolic derangements, and loss of cardiorespiratory fitness which may negatively impact autonomic function in breast cancer patients. Lastly, we review potential strategies to improve autonomic function in this population. The perspective can help guide new therapeutic interventions to promote longevity and cardiovascular health among breast cancer survivors.

Cardiac Autonomic Modulation in Cancer Patients as Assessed by Time Domain Measures of Heart Rate Variability

2015

Introduction: Cancer is a leading cause of mortality. Recent research is probing into association between autonomic control and cancer. Aim & Objective: To find out the cardiac autonomic control in cancer patients compared to healthy subjects employing SDNN and E: I ratio. Method: 48 cancer patients and 48 healthy subjects (control) were studied. In them E: I ratio, SDNN, Heart rate (HR), Body mass index (BMI), Blood pressure were measured. E: I ratio, SDNN and HR was measured from one minute lead II electrocardiogram in supine position. Data was analyzed by Mann-Whitney test and unpaired t test. p value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: E: I ratio and HR was lower in cancer patients compared to control (p = 0.0001, 0.0003 respectively). SDNN did not differ significantly between cancer patients and control (p = 0.059). BMI, age, blood pressure did not differ significantly between cancer patients and control. Conclusion: As E:I ratio is a measure of fluctuation in p...

Higher Vagal Activity as Related to Survival in Patients With Advanced Breast Cancer: An Analysis of Autonomic Dysregulation

Psychosomatic medicine, 2015

High levels of high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), related to parasympathetic-nervous-system functioning, have been associated with longer survival in patients with myocardial infarction and acute trauma and in patients undergoing palliative care. From animal studies linking higher vagal activity with better immune system functioning and reduced metastases, we hypothesized that higher HF-HRV would predict longer survival in patients with metastatic or recurrent breast cancer (MRBC). Eighty-seven patients with MRBC participated in a laboratory task including a 5-minute resting baseline electrocardiogram. HF-HRV was computed as the natural logarithm of the summed power spectral density of R-R intervals (0.15-0.50 Hz). In this secondary analysis of a study testing whether diurnal cortisol slope predicted survival, we tested the association between resting baseline HF-HRV on survival using Cox proportional hazards models. A total of 50 patients died during a median follow-up...

Increased sympathetic modulation in breast cancer survivors determined by measurement of heart rate variability

Scientific Reports

Experimental and clinical studies have shown that the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) stimulates cancer progression and reduces the efficacy of oncological treatment. These effects may be reduced by pharmacological and psychotherapeutical approaches attenuating SNS tone. Therefore, it is necessary to identify those cancer survivors whose sympathetic modulation is excessively increased. For determination of SNS modulation, non-invasive method of heart rate variability (HRV) is widely used. In our study, HRV was determined from 5-min heartbeat recordings in healthy volunteers and in women with benign or malignant breast neoplasias, both in newly diagnosed patients and in women after initial treatment. We showed impaired cardio-vagal regulation in breast cancer patients (linear methods) and also found the increased sympathetic modulation indicated by the non-linear (the symbolic dynamics 0V%) parameter. This non-linear HRV analysis seems to be more sensitive than the linear one, indic...

Effect of Age on Heart Rate Variability Analysis in Breast Cancer Patients

Biomedical and Clinical Engineering for Healthcare Advancement, 2020

Breast Cancer (BC) is the leading cause of death in women, worldwide. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status (PS) of BC can be studied using HRV measures. The main purpose of this chapter is to give an insight to clinicians via HRV measures with respect to age to make them understand the PS of patients. Data from 114 BC patients was segregated into two age groups, G1 (20 to 40 years) and G2 (41 to 75 years). The 5-minute electrocardiogram of the subjects was taken and HRV measures were extracted. One-way ANOVA with Posthoc Tukeys' HSD test was done. Triangular Index, Ratio of standard deviation of poincare plot perpendicular to the line of identity to the standard deviation along line of identity, Detrended Fluctuation Analysis descriptors, Approximate Entropy, Sample Entropy and Correlation Dimension significantly decreased from ECOG0 to 4 and from G1 to G2. The sympathetic activity increased with vagal withdrawal as age advanced.