Study on the relationship between blood pressure and heart rate variability in essential hypertension

Objective: To study the relationship between blood pressure and heart rate variability (HRV) in essential hypertension (EH). Methods: A total of 45 patients with EH were treated with ACE inhibitors and calcium antagonists for a year. With 24 h ambulatory ECG, HRV was evaluated before and after the treatment. HRV was also evaluated in 63 control subjects. Results: (1) In the EH group, the level of blood pressure was reduced (P 0.05) after the treatment; (2) Before the treatment, the HRV parameters (in frequency domain and in time domain analysis) were lower in EH group than those in control group; (3) In EH group, the HRV parameters such as SDNN, SDANN, LF, HF significantly improved (P0.05). Conclusion: In EH patients, blood pressure has significant influence on the autonomic nervous activities. Blood pressure control can improves the autonomic nervous function.