Background: Selection of the optimal dose of beta-blocker treatment in myocardial infarction (MI) patients is problematic because of a lack of well-established guidelines. Methods: We evaluated changes in synchronization between 0.1 Hz oscillations in heart rate (HR) and plethysmographic peripheral microcirculation in response to a tilt-table test and to 3-month treatment with the highest tolerated beta-blocker (metoprolol) dose in 43 patients aged between 41 and 77 years with acute MI 6 months prior to the start of the study. Before the study the patients were treated with small doses of beta-blocker. Phase differences between HR and peripheral microcirculation oscillations were used to measure the degree of synchronization (S), and relative change in S from horizontal position was used to characterize the response to vertical tilt. Results: Two groups of MI patients matched for clinical characteristics were identified on the basis of the results. The first group was composed of patients with decreased S as a response to vertical tilt at the beginning of the study. The patients with increased S during vertical tilt before treatment with the highest tolerated beta-blocker dose were attributed to the second group. The response to vertical tilt in the first group of patients was postulated to indicate the need to increase beta-blocker dose, and in turn, the response in the second group to indicate an already adequate beta-blocker dose. Conclusion: Assessment of synchronization of 0.1 Hz HR and peripheral microcirculation oscillations as a response to a tilt test can possibly be used as a guideline for selecting beta-blocker dose in post-MI patients.
Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine 2012; 13(8): 491-498

The aim was to study the suitability of the heart rate variability (HRV) spectral parameters for evaluations of bicycle ergometry results in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. Methods. Our study included 243 male CHD patients aged 49±8 years. The coronary atherosclerosis was assessed by coronary angiography. The results of bicycle ergometry, Doppler echocardio-graphy and HRV spectral analysis were also analyzed. The duration of each stage of bicycle ergometry was 3 min, the initial load value was 25 W. Dynamic load continued until the patient had reached 75% of heart rate from his maximal age level. The maximal level of load achieved (i.e. load tolerance) was taken into consideration. We calculated sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), likelihood ratios of positive (LR+) and negative (LR-) bicycle ergometry results. Results. All patients had similar clinical characteristics. LR+ become maximal under the moderate load tolerance. LR- are maximal in the CHD patients with high load tolerance. Thus, the excessiveness of false-negative results of bicycle ergometry is in CHD patients with high load tolerance. Reliability of results of bicycle ergometry increased under using assessments of low-frequency (LF) range power of HRV spectrum. Conclusions. Thus,the using of LF range power of HRV spectrum increases reliability of bicycle ergometry (or other load tests) results in CHD patients.
Health. 2011. Vol. 3. No. 8. P.477-481.

Frequency estimates of the heart rate variability (HRV) spectrum influenced by external periodic stimuli were studied in healthy subjects and patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Sensory stimulation by periodic eye opening at a rate of 15, 10, 8, 6, or 5 times per minute, as well as spontaneous and controlled breathing at a rate of 15, 10, 8, 6, or 5 times per minute, was used. It was found that the spectral response to external periodic oscillations was determined by a frequency-dependent phenomenon, the maximal amplitude of heart rate variations being observed in the case of external stimuli at a frequency of 0.1 Hz. A resonance frequency in the 0.1-Hz range may be suggested to exist in the cardiovascular controls. Significant differences in the HRV frequency characteristics between CHD patients and healthy subjects were shown. CHD patients had a characteristic decline in HRV responses to external oscillations; the power of these responses did not depend on the frequency of external stimuli.
Human Physiology, 2006, Vol. 32, No. 5, p. 565–573