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njit-etd2003-081 - New Jersey Institute of Technology

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3<br />

pulmonary disease (COPD) is an excellent candidate to now be studied. Patients with<br />

pulmonary disease also have significant alterations <strong>of</strong> their autonomic regulation. In<br />

COPD patients breathing patterns are altered, causing abnormalities in the entrainment<br />

<strong>of</strong> the normal central oscillators.<br />

A recent study by Pagani, et al [3] demonstrated that there is a decrease in the<br />

high frequency (parasympathetic) activity detected in patients with COPD compared to<br />

age matched controls, and a decrease in low frequency (sympathetic) activity. This<br />

work also demonstrated that the RSA vagal index, which provides an assessment <strong>of</strong> the<br />

gain <strong>of</strong> respiratory modulation <strong>of</strong> RR variability, is altered in patients with COPD.<br />

Unfortunately, there has not been much focused work studying the relationship <strong>of</strong> the<br />

pulmonary functions and alterations in autonomic regulation as monitored by HRV,<br />

BPV, or BRS and linking these parameters to morbidity and mortality. Since there are<br />

several physiological correlations between the populations <strong>of</strong> patients with COPD and<br />

congestive heart failure (CHF), there is a good reason to believe that some <strong>of</strong> the<br />

findings in the CHF population may also extend to patients with COPD.<br />

With the correlations that are possible to see from the previous work that has<br />

been done in cardiac disease and heart failure, it should be possible to demonstrate that<br />

these autonomic tests are clear predictors <strong>of</strong> morbidity and mortality, and that<br />

improvements in the parameters that one measures, correlate with improved outcomes.<br />

The first part <strong>of</strong> this study has been designed to answer questions about<br />

interactions between the nervous system, the cardiac and the pulmonary system; and<br />

issues concerning heart rate variability activity. The study consists <strong>of</strong> several sections<br />

that were performed on different days on the population <strong>of</strong>:

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