TY - JOUR
T1 - Cold face test in persons with spinal cord injury
T2 - Age versus inactivity
AU - Wecht, Jill M.
AU - Weir, Joseph P.
AU - Demeersman, Ronald E.
AU - Schilero, Gregory J.
AU - Handrakis, John P.
AU - Lafountaine, Michael F.
AU - Cirnigliaro, Christopher M.
AU - Kirshblum, Steven C.
AU - Bauman, William A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We acknowledge financial and institutional support from the Veteran Affairs Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, Center of Excellence for the Medical Consequences of SCI, James J. Peters VAMC, the Vidda Foundation, and United
PY - 2009/8
Y1 - 2009/8
N2 - Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) reflect a model of precocious aging and inactivity; as such, these individuals manifest well-appreciated cardiovascular abnormalities. We aimed to determine the influence of inactivity in persons with SCI, and the influence of age in healthy controls, on cardiovascular autonomic responses to the cold face test (CFT). Subjects recruited (n = 42) included 18 controls: 10 young (25 ± 2 years) and 8 old (50 ± 6 years), and 24 subjects with chronic SCI: 17 with tetraplegia (C3-C8 44 ± 7 years) and 7 with paraplegia (T5-T10 36 ± 8 years). Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure were collected continuously: 2-min pre-CFT, 1-min CFT and 2-min post-CFT. Time-frequency (wavelet) analysis of HR (HFln) was used as an estimate of vagal cardiac modulation. The HR response to the CFT differed significantly among the SCI group (4.1 ± 8.8 bpm) and the young (-7.7 ± 5.9 bpm; P < 0.001) and old (-6.8 ± 10.7 bpm; P < 0.01). The HFln response was reduced in the SCI (0.01 ± 1.59) as compared with the young controls (1.50 ± 1.50; P < 0.05), but was not different from the old controls (0.69 ± 1.39). The bradycardia did not differ among the young and old controls; however, the vagal response was attenuated in the old compared with the young. These data suggest that age does not significantly alter the heart rate response to the CFT, but attenuates the vagal response. In the SCI group, the paradoxical heart rate response to facial cooling and the lack of vagal activation suggest that abnormal autonomic cardiovascular reflexive control may result from profound inactivity and/or from the spinal cord injury per se.
AB - Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) reflect a model of precocious aging and inactivity; as such, these individuals manifest well-appreciated cardiovascular abnormalities. We aimed to determine the influence of inactivity in persons with SCI, and the influence of age in healthy controls, on cardiovascular autonomic responses to the cold face test (CFT). Subjects recruited (n = 42) included 18 controls: 10 young (25 ± 2 years) and 8 old (50 ± 6 years), and 24 subjects with chronic SCI: 17 with tetraplegia (C3-C8 44 ± 7 years) and 7 with paraplegia (T5-T10 36 ± 8 years). Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure were collected continuously: 2-min pre-CFT, 1-min CFT and 2-min post-CFT. Time-frequency (wavelet) analysis of HR (HFln) was used as an estimate of vagal cardiac modulation. The HR response to the CFT differed significantly among the SCI group (4.1 ± 8.8 bpm) and the young (-7.7 ± 5.9 bpm; P < 0.001) and old (-6.8 ± 10.7 bpm; P < 0.01). The HFln response was reduced in the SCI (0.01 ± 1.59) as compared with the young controls (1.50 ± 1.50; P < 0.05), but was not different from the old controls (0.69 ± 1.39). The bradycardia did not differ among the young and old controls; however, the vagal response was attenuated in the old compared with the young. These data suggest that age does not significantly alter the heart rate response to the CFT, but attenuates the vagal response. In the SCI group, the paradoxical heart rate response to facial cooling and the lack of vagal activation suggest that abnormal autonomic cardiovascular reflexive control may result from profound inactivity and/or from the spinal cord injury per se.
KW - Bradycardia
KW - Facial cooling
KW - Heart rate variability
KW - Spinal cord injury
KW - Sympathetic activity
KW - Vagal activity
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/68849129109
U2 - 10.1007/s10286-009-0009-2
DO - 10.1007/s10286-009-0009-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 19418115
AN - SCOPUS:68849129109
SN - 0959-9851
VL - 19
SP - 221
EP - 229
JO - Clinical Autonomic Research
JF - Clinical Autonomic Research
IS - 4
ER -