Evaluation of 5-Year Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Patients after Acute Myocardial Infarction Using Synchronization of 0.1-Hz Rhythms in Cardiovascular System

Background — Synchronization between 0.1-Hz rhythms in cardiovascular system is deteriorated at acute myocardial infarction (AMI) leading to a disruption of natural functional couplings within the system of autonomic regulation. Objective — This study evaluates the prognostic value of autonomic regulation indices for the 5-year risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events in patients after AMI. Methods and Results — We studied 125 patients (53 [42%] female) after AMI aged between 30 and 83 years. The period of observation was 5 years with checkpoints at the first week after AMI and after each year after AMI. We compared the prognostic value of established clinical characteristics and degree S of synchronization between 0.1-Hz rhythms in heart rate and microcirculation for evaluation of the 5-year risk of mortality and recurrent myocardial infarction (MI) in patients after AMI. Acute heart failure Killip 2–4 at AMI and S < 20% at the first week after AMI were identified as the most important factors for evaluation of the risk of 5-year mortality in patients after AMI (χ2= 14.2, P = 0.003). Sensitivity and specificity of low S (