Autonomic cardiovascular control and diastolic dysfunction in hypertensive subjects

Abstract Background Early hypertension is associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction due to increased end-diastolic pressure. This increase, through the cardiopulmonary reflexes, can influence autonomic cardiovascular control. Methods We assessed autonomic nervous system modulation of cardiovascular signals by power spectral analysis of RR interval and systolic arterial pressure variabilities in subjects with recently diagnosed hypertension with or without diastolic dysfunction and in normotensive control subjects. Results Both hypertensive groups had higher low-frequency (LF) power expressed in normalized units (NUs) than normotensive controls ( p p p Conclusions These results seem to indicate that in subjects with recently diagnosed hypertension sympathetic modulation of the sinus node prevails. During tilt, a maneuver designed to stimulate systemic arterial and cardiopulmonary baroreceptor reflexes, hypertensive subjects with diastolic dysfunction, who presumably also have higher end-diastolic pressures, seem to have greater sympathetic modulation of the sinus node than hypertensive subjects without diastolic dysfunction.