Blunted Cardiac Response to Sleep Apnea a Marker of Depression After Acute Myocardial Infarction

While depression is often overlooked in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), it is an important risk of death among these patients. We examined if heart rate variability (HRV) particularly those related to sleep apnea can be a maker of depression after AMI. According to the prognosis of depression, 707 post-AMI patients were divided into 349 never, 138 remitting, 25 newly onset, and 195 persistent depression. Regardless of future prognosis, currently depressed patients had higher heart rate, lower HRV, and blunted cyclic variation of heart rate to sleep apnea during the night.