Reduced sympathetic response to head-up tilt in subjects with mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer's dementia

Marte Rognstad Mellingsæter; Torgeir Bruun Wyller; Anette Hylen Ranhoff; Nenad Bogdanovic; Vegard Bruun Wyller

doi:10.1159/000375297

Reduced sympathetic response to head-up tilt in subjects with mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer's dementia

Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra. 2015 Mar 13;5(1):107-15. doi: 10.1159/000375297. eCollection 2015 Jan-Apr.

Authors

Marte Rognstad Mellingsæter¹, Torgeir Bruun Wyller¹, Anette Hylen Ranhoff², Nenad Bogdanovic¹, Vegard Bruun Wyller³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Bergen ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Bergen.
² Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Bergen ; Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen.
³ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Bergen ; Department of Pediatrics, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.

Abstract

Background: Hemodynamic control was compared in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild Alzheimer's dementia (AD) as well as in healthy elderly subjects.

Methods: Noninvasive, continuous hemodynamic recordings were obtained from 14 patients and 48 controls during supine rest (tilt of 30 and 70°). Cardiac output, end-diastolic volume, total peripheral resistance, heart rate variability (HRV), systolic blood pressure variability (SBPV), and baroreceptor sensitivity were calculated.

Results: At 70° tilt, the HRV indices differed significantly, with higher high-frequency (HF) variability as well as lower low-frequency (LF) variability and LF/HF ratios in the patients. The patients had significantly lower SBPV in the LF range at 30° tilt.

Keywords: Alzheimer's dementia; Autonomic function; Head-up tilt; Mild cognitive impairment.