Visualisation of heart rate and blood pressure dysregulation in young patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus by Poincaré plot

Time series analysis of cardiovascular signals is usually performed by linear methods. Inspired by an effort to apply nonlinear time series analysis into cardiovascular variability signals, the aim of this study was to compare heart rate and blood pressure variabilities (HRV and BPV) between young patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) and control subjects by Poincare plot. We analysed supine rest HRV and BPV time series using Poincare plot pattern analysis. The length and widths of Poincare plot were evaluated by self-developed software. In patients with type 1 DM, we found significant reduction of all HRV Poincare plot measures indicating heart rate dysregulation detected in visually understandable manner. However, no significant differences in BPV Poincare plot measures were observed - we suggest that dysregulation of vessels" sympathetic control occurs later in the course of DM.