Dynamic non-linear changes in heart rate variability in patients with coronary heart disease and arterial hypertension treated by amlodipine besylate

The article emphasizes clinical and prognostic significance of non-linear measures of the heart rate variability (HRV). It was applied on the group of patients with stable coronary heart disease (CHD) and arterial hypertension (AH) before and after 6 months treatment by amlodipine besylate (5 mg daily). Two different methods were applied: Hurst exponent (H) and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Hurst exponent of the R-R series was determined by the range rescaled analysis technique. DFA was used to quantify fractal long-range-correlation properties of heart rate variability. It was found that the short-term fractal scaling exponent (/spl alpha//sub 1/) is significantly lower in patients with CHD, as well as Hurst exponent. But, after 6 months treatment with calcium channel blocker amlodipine besylate the results of HRV are normalize.