Heart rate variability is reduced in acromegaly patients and improved by treatment with somatostatin analogues

Abstract

Cardiac autonomic functions and sympathovagal balance are altered in patients affected by acromegaly and could be ameliorated by SSAs therapy. HRV analysis allows an estimation of the autonomic sympathovagal balance and may be a useful clinical tool for the cardiac risk stratification in acromegalic patients.

Heart rate variability in type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…T2DM duration: the mean time from T2DM diagnosis was 7.8±4.4 years ranging from 3.0 [47,54] to 11.2 [51] years. T2DM duration was not reported in five studies [45,48,50,52,53].…”

“…Five studies assessed the influence of high blood pressure on HRV in T2DM compared with healthy controls [49,50,54,55,58]. Other studies compared HRV between T2DM patients and controls based on blood catecholamine levels [44], circadian autonomic rhythm in insulinoresistant subjects [45], in cases of bowel preparation [63], metabolic syndrome [47], circadian rhythm in relation to blood adiponectin [62], or dimethylarginine levels [61], hypoglycaemic episodes [59], in acromegalic patients [53], and inhalation of ultrafine particles [57].…”

“…Healthy controls were paired with T2DM patients based on age [41,43,44,46,47,49,50,52,53,58,59,62], gender [42,44,45,47,51,59,60,63], body weight [50,59], BMI [44], and blood pressure [60].…”

The role of neuropeptides in adverse myocardial remodeling and heart failure

“…SS was also shown to be effective in restoring sinus rhythm by treating re-entry tachycardia in six of seven patients [81]. The most widely reported improvements in cardiac structure and function with SS or its analogues appears to be in cardiovascular disease that is secondary to abnormal levels of growth hormone, especially in acromegaly [82–85], likely due to its ability to reduce secretion of growth promoting hormones. Eleven patients with acromegaly showed improvements in cardiac mass and function as measured by echocardiography after 6-months of treatment with octreotide [82].…”

“…Improvements in cardiac fibrosis as well as systolic function were shown in 22 patients with acromegaly, after treatment with the SS analogue, sandostatin, for six months [84]. Finally, heart rate variability in acromegaly patients in the form of increased arrhythmias, as well as its control after treatment with various SS analogues, was reported through 24hr ECG measurements in 28 patients [85]. …”