Autonomic function in cirrhosis assessed by cardiovascular reflex tests and 24-hour heart rate variability.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the prevalence of autonomic dysfunction in cirrhosis and to observe the effect of disease severity on autonomic dysfunction.

METHODS

Seventy patients with cirrhosis (Child's class A, 42; Child's class B, 10; and Child's class C, 15) (45 alcoholic, 15 primary biliary cirrhosis, five chronic active hepatitis, and eight idiopathic) underwent standard cardiovascular reflex tests. In addition, in 40 patients, 24-h ECG RR variability tests were performed to detect autonomic dysfunction.

RESULTS

Forty-two of 70 (60%) patients had abnormalities of cardiovascular reflex function of varying severity, whereas 24 of 34 (70%) had 24-h RR counts with the 95% age-related tolerance. The prevalence of abnormality increased with increasing severity of liver disease but not with different etiologies.

CONCLUSION

Irrespective of etiology, there is a high prevalence of autonomic dysfunction in cirrhosis, and it is related to disease severity: the mechanism is unknown.