Reproducibility of short- and long-term Poincare plot parameters compared with frequency-domain HRV indexes in congestive heart failure

Poincare plot analysis allows a beat-to-beat approach of HRV detecting pattern resulting from non-linear processes not observable by other methods in a time- or frequency-domain analysis. With a view to its clinical application, the authors evaluated the short- and long-term reproducibility and reliability of the analysis. The main 2D and 3D parameters were automatically measured with a dedicated software developed by the authors. Three 24 hours ECG Holter recordings for each of 22 CHF clinically stable patients were analyzed, performing a frequency-domain and a Poincare plot analysis. Results showed a high short- and long-term reliability, a higher short-term reproducibility versus frequency domain parameters, and a comparable long-term reproducibility, suggesting that some parameters might be very useful in clinical setting.