Haemodynamic effects of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Feasibility of Paced Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia and its
IRAS ID
171517
Contact name
Edward Duncan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Research and Innovation
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 0 days
Research summary
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is the beat to beat variation in heart rate in response to breathing. It is a modulatory mechanism which is thought to improve the efficiency of breathing and decrease the work done by the heart. RSA is lost in cardiovascular disease and is an indicator for sleep apnoea, cardiac arrhythmia, hypertension, and sudden cardiac death. It is felt that restoring RSA in patients with heart failure may improve their prognosis and symptom burden.
On average there are 40,000 pacemakers fitted per year within the UK. Currently, pacemakers stimulate the heart at a constant rate that does not vary from beat to beat. Therefore they do not replicate the natural beating of the human heart, as the rhythm lacks the physiological response to the breathing cycle. If the restoration of RSA is demonstrated to have beneficial effects on cardiac output then pacemakers could be adapted to respond to respiratory patterns, making them more physiological. This would in particular be important for patients with heart failure who are known to lose RSA - some patients with heart failure receive a specialised type of pacemaker which restores coordinated contraction of the heart but neglects RSA. This may lead to and better patient outcomes with an enhanced quality of life and survival.
This study aims to examine the effect of induced paced respiratory sinus arrhythmia on blood pressure in patients who are post cardiac surgery on the cardiac intensive care unit at the Bristol Heart Institute.
REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0702
Date of REC Opinion
18 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion