Browsing by Subject "skin sympathetic nerve activity"

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    Characterization of skin sympathetic nerve activity in patients with cardiomyopathy and ventricular arrhythmia
    (Elsevier, 2019) Zhang, Pei; Liang, Jin-jun; Cai, Cheng; Tian, Ying; Dai, Ming-yan; Wong, Johnson; Everett, Thomas H., IV; Wittwer, Erica D.; Barsness, Gregory W.; Chen, Peng-Sheng; Jiang, Chen-yang; Cha, Yong-Mei; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background Heightened sympathetic nerve activity is associated with occurrence of ventricular arrhythmia (VA). Objective To investigate the association of skin sympathetic nerve activity (SKNA) and VA occurrence. Methods We prospectively enrolled 65 patients with severe cardiomyopathy. Of these, 39 had recent sustained VA episodes (VA-1 group), 11 had intractable VA undergoing sedation with general anesthesia (VA-2 group), and 15 had no known history of VA (VA-Ctrl group). All patients had simultaneous SKNA and electrocardiogram recording. SKNA was assessed using an average value (aSKNA), a variable value (vSKNA), and the number of bursts of SKNA (bSKNA). Results The VA-1 group had higher aSKNA and vSKNA compared with the VA-Ctrl group (aSKNA: 1.41 ± 0.53 μV vs 0.98 ± 0.41 μV, P = .003; vSKNA: 0.52 ± 0.22 μV vs 0.30 ± 0.16 μV, P < .001) and the VA-2 group (aSKNA: 0.83 ± 0.22 μV, P < .001; vSKNA: 0.23 ± 0.11 μV; P < .001). Although the VA-2 group had more VA episodes than the VA-1 group (median, 5 vs 2; P = .01), their SKNA was the lowest among the 3 groups. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that a higher aSKNA at baseline was an independent predictor of lower VA recurrence rate during a 417 ± 279-day follow-up (hazard ratio, 0.325; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.119–0.883; P = .03). A >15% reduction in aSKNA after therapy was associated with a lower subsequent VA event rate (hazard ratio, 0.222; 95% CI, 0.057–0.864; P = .03). Conclusion Patients with VA had increased SKNA as compared with control. Both SKNA and sustained VA could be suppressed by general anesthesia. The aSKNA at baseline was an independent predictor of VA recurrence.
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    Method for Detection and Quantification of Non-Invasive Skin Sympathetic Nerve Activity
    (IEEE, 2018) Liu, Chun; Wong, Johnson; Doytchinova, Anisiia; Chen, Peng-Sheng; Lin, Shien-Fong; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Sympathetic nerve activity is an important trigger of cardiac arrhythmia. Our laboratory recently developed a new method for non-invasive recording of the skin sympathetic nerve activity (SKNA) using conventional electrocardiography (ECG) patch electrodes. Recent studies showed that SKNA can adequately estimate sympathetic tone in humans. In order to improve the analysis of SKNA, we developed automatic standard assessment system based on the concept of microneurography and applied to non-invasive SKNA recording via 4 steps of signal processing. Every parameters in procedures can be manually selected by users in order to meet requirements. After using these signal processing, the results obtained by this system show improved nerve burst morphology and trend. Intuitive nerve discharge pattern and occurrence frequency can be automatically generated. Verification of the method with the cold water pressor test data further established the reliability and usefulness of the system. This new method offered a convenient tool to evaluate SKNA for comprehensive and detailed application in neurocardiology. The analysis system may facilitate the study between SKNA and cardiac arrhythmia, thus advance the field of neurocardiology research.