Cardiovascular autonomic control and its relationship with the quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia: Preliminary study

• Published in: 2014 8th Conference of the European Study Group on Cardiovascular Oscillations (ESGCO) pp. 133 - 134
• Main Authors: Zamunér, Antonio R., Andrade, Carolina P., Forti, Meire, Driusso, Patrícia, Catai, Aparecida M., Furlan, Raffaello, da Silva, Ester
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-05-2014
• Subjects: Baroreflex; Blood pressure; Coherence; Frequency modulation; Pain; Spectral analysis
• DOI: 10.1109/ESGCO.2014.6847555

This study aimed to evaluate the cardiovascular autonomic control and its relationship with the quality of life in fibromyalgia (FM). Seven women with FM and 10 healthy women (CG) were studied. The ECG and blood pressure were continuously recorded in supine and during active standing (AST). Spectral analysis provided the indices of cardiac sympathovagal modulation (LF RR and LF RR /HF RR ) and sympathetic vasomotor control (LFsap). Coherence between RR and SAP variability [(K 2 SAP-RR (LF)] and baroreflex function (index-αLF) were quantified. Quality of life was assessed by FIQ questionnaire. In supine, FM presented higher values of sympathetic cardiovascular modulation and lower baroreflex function compared to CG, and a tendency towards an inverse relationship between FIQ and K 2 SAP-RR (LF) (RS=-0.5;p=0.2). During AST, FM showed a reduced capability to increase cardiovascular sympathetic modulation compared to CG. FM presented abnormal cardiovascular autonomic profile and the reduced coherence may be related to a worst quality of life.