• Udi Nussinovitch, Keren Politi Elishkevitz, Keren Kaminer, Moshe Nussinovitch, Shlomo Segev, Benjamin Volovitz, and Naomi Nussinovitch.
• The Heller Institute of Medical Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. enussi@yahoo.com
• Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2011 Nov 1;34(11):1498-502.

BackgroundHigh values of resting heart rate were found to be correlated with adverse outcomes in various patient groups. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a reliable technique in determining autonomic nervous system function. Our aim was to evaluate whether a 10-second resting heart rate obtained from a resting electrocardiogram (ECG), could be used as a reliable evaluation of short-term HRV.MethodsSeventy-nine healthy volunteers were included in the study. All participants underwent a 10-second ECG, and 5-minute HRV measurement under strict criteria.ResultsA significantly negative correlation was found between resting heart rate and 5-minute max-RR, min-RR, standard deviation of normal RR intervals (SDNN), root mean square of successive differences of RR intervals (RMSSD), HRV triangular index, number of intervals differing by 50 milliseconds from the preceding interval (NN50), pNN50, standard deviation of the points perpendicular to the line of identity (SD1), standard deviation along the line of identity (SD2), and high frequency spectral component (HF). A significant positive correlation was found between resting heart rate and a 5-minute low frequency spectral component (LF) and LF/HF ratio. Specifically, max-RR and min-RR were found to have the best correlation with resting heart rate.ConclusionsResting heart rate obtained from a 10-second ECG can be used for crude estimation of all HRV results in healthy individuals who do not take medications, with variable efficacy depending on the measured parameter. Resting heart rate was especially efficient in predicting max-RR and min-RR. Further research should focus on assessing the reliability of a resting heart rate for HRV evaluation, in patients with autonomic dysfunction and high-risk cardiac patients.

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