Frecuencia cardíaca y riesgo cardiovascular

A higher office basal heart rate has been associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The association between heart rate and mortality in most studies remains even after adjusting for multiple confounding variables such as cardiovascular risk factors, physical activity, lung function, use of beta blockers, antihypertensive treatment, hemoglobin, left ventricular hypertrophy, coronary disease or heart failure. Therefore, basal tachycardia seems to be a marker of subclinical chronic disease or a sign of the sympathetic hyperactivity. Both office heart rate and heart rate obtained by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring -especially nighttime heart rate- are useful to better estimate the cardiovascular risk of the hypertensive patient.