Heart rate complexity and cardiac sympathetic dysinnervation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is one of the most severe complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of this study was to investigate associations of cardiac sympathetic dysinnervation (CSD; by ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy) with short-term heart rate variability (HRV) measured by traditional vs. complexity markers. ECG was measured in 31 diabetic patients during rest over a period of 5 minutes and HRV quantified in different domains (time and frequency domain, scaling properties, symbolic dynamics). ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy identified 16 patients with CSD. Resting heart rate was increased and HRV reduced in these patients. In a subgroup of 16 patients ECG was also measured during standing. Changes in several HRV measures upon standing demonstrated cardiac responsiveness to orthostatic stress. Strong correlations between HRV, measured during standing, and CSD were observed with metrics based on symbolic dynamics. In conclusion, HRV assessment during standing may be useful for assessing cardiac sympathetic dysinnervation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.