Forecasting of life threatening arrhythmias using the compression entropy of heart rate
Date
2004
Authors
Baumert, M.
Baier, V.
Haueisen, V.
Wessel, N.
Meyerfeldt, U.
Schirdewan, A.
Voss, A.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Methods of Information in Medicine, 2004; 43(2):202-206
Statement of Responsibility
M. Baumert, V. Baier, J. Haueisen, N. Wessel, U. Meyerfeldt, A. Schirdewan, and A. Voss
Conference Name
Abstract
Objectives: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) provoking sudden cardiac death (SCD) are a major cause of mortality in the developed countries. The most efficient therapy for SCD prevention are implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD). In this study heart rate variability (HRV) measures were analyzed for short-term forecasting of VT in order to improve VT sensing and to enable a patient warning of forth-coming shocks. Methods: The last 1000 normal beat-to-beat intervals before 50 VT episodes stored by the ICD were analyzed and compared to individually acquired control time series (CON). HRV analysis was performed with standard parameters of time and frequency domain as suggested by the HRV Task Force and furthermore with a newly developed and optimized nonlinear parameter that assesses the compression entropy of heart rate (Hc ). Results: Except of meanNN (p = 0.02) we found no significant differences in standard HRV parameters. In contrast, Hc revealed highly significant (p = 0.007) alterations in VT compared with CON suggesting a decreased complexity before the onset of VT. Conclusion: Compression entropy might be a suitable parameter for short-term forecasting of life-threatening tachycardia in ICD.