Cardiac Rate and Hyperkinetic Rhythm Disorders in Healthy Elderly Subjects: Evaluation by Ambulatory Electrocardiographic Monitoring

Abstract

We performed 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic (Holter) examinations in 50 retired hospital workers (30 men, 20 women), aged 58–85 years (mean age ± SD: 65.9 ± 4.6 years), with a normal clinical history, physical examination and baseline ECG. There was a significant difference between daytime and nocturnal mean heart rates (79.2 ± 8.4 vs. 65.3 ± 7.8 beats per minute), and between maximal (122.4 ± 15.6 vs. 99.9 ± 13.7) and minimal (57.9 ± 10.8 vs. 51.3 ± 8.0) diurnal and nocturnal heart rates. 92% of the subjects were shown to have supraventricular extrasystoles (SVE) in the 24 h recording, with 16% having more than 100 SVE/h. 68% had ventricular extrasystoles (VE), but only 6% had more than 100 VE/h. SVE were mainly diurnal, and VE were equally distributed between day and night. No other rhythm disturbances were found in this group of healthy elderly individuals.

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