Deceleration and acceleration capacities of heart rate associated with heart failure with high discriminating performance

Accurate measurements of autonomic nerve regulation in heart failure (HF) were unresolved. The discriminating performance of deceleration and acceleration capacities of heart rate in HF was evaluated in 130 HF patients and 212 controls. Acceleration capacity and deceleration capacity were independent risk factors for HF in males, evaluated by multiple logistic regression analysis, with odds ratios (ORs) of 5.94 and 0.13, respectively. Acceleration capacity was also an independent risk factor for HF in females, with an OR of 8.58. Deceleration capacity was the best cardiac electrophysiological index to classify HF in males, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.88. Deceleration capacity was the best classification factor of HF in females with an AUC of 0.97, significantly higher than even left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Acceleration capacity also showed high performance in classifying HF in males (0.84) and females (0.92). The cut-off values of deceleration capacity for HF classification in males and females were 4.55 ms and 4.85 ms, respectively. The cut-off values of acceleration capacity for HF classification in males and females were −6.15 ms and −5.75 ms, respectively. Our study illustrates the role of acceleration and deceleration capacity measurements in the neuro-pathophysiology of HF.