Cardiac autonomic function in bronchiectasis and age and gender-matched healthy participants: case-control study

This study aims to evaluate and compare cardiac autonomic function, specifically through heart rate variability (HRV), between individuals with bronchiectasis and their age- and gender-matched healthy counterparts. This study employed a case-control design, involving 60 participants diagnosed with bronchiectasis (cases) and a control group of healthy individuals matched by age and gender. HRV data was collected over a five-minute interval, focusing on frequency domain parameters including total power, very low frequency (VLF), low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and the LF/HF ratio. The bronchiectasis group exhibited a significantly elevated LF/HF ratio, indicating a shift in cardiac sympathovagal balance, relative to the control group (2.25 ± 0.39 vs. 2.05 ± 0.38; p = 0.006). Additionally, marked differences were found in specific frequency domain parameters: LF (2.33 ± 0.55 vs. 2.55 ± 0.46; p = 0.021) and HF (2.06 ± 0.75 vs. 2.5 ± 0.56; p = 0.001). The results suggest a notable disturbance in cardiac autonomic regulation among individuals with bronchiectasis, compared to healthy individuals.