Heart rate turbulence analysis in healthy postmenopausal women

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate heart rate turbulence (HRT) parameters in postmenopausal women. Material and Methods: A total of 40 postmenopausal women and 43 healthy, regularly menstruating premenopausal women were taken as study and control groups, respectively. All patients had biochemical blood examination, 2-D echocardiography and 24-hour Holter monitorization. HRT parameters, namely turbulence onset (TO) and turbulence slope (TS) were calculated. Results: Age, body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic pressure, total cholesterol and LDL levels were higher in the postmenopausal group, whereas HDL levels were higher in the premenopausal group (p<0.05). TO was significantly higher, TS was significantly lower in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women (-2.76±1.34 vs 0.60±1.30 and 3.60±1.54 vs 1.60±1.48, p=0.000 for both, respectively). TO was positively correlated, TS negatively correlated with age, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and LDL cholesterol level. According to multivariate analysis only menopausal status and age had an independent effect on HRT parameters. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the cut-off values of TO and TS for predicting menopausal status were 0.959 and 0.165, respectively (0.835 anti-image). These results showed that TO and TS had diagnostic value for predicting menopausal status. Conclusion: Postmenopausal women had blunted HRT response. It is a simple and easily obtainable test and should be implemented in cardiac evaluation in daily practice. Copyright © 2021 by Türkiye Klinikleri.