Cardiovascular variability in young male and female subjects in health and orthostatic intolerance

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of head-up tilt (HUT) test on male and female young patients, diagnosed with orthostatic intolerance (OI), in comparison to male and female healthy subjects. Twenty seven OI patients (21 women, 6 men) and 26 age-matched healthy subjects (13 women, 13 men) were enrolled in a 70° HUT test. In addition to hemodynamic variables, cardiovascular and respiratory parameters were determined using linear and nonlinear methods to analyze heart rate (HRV) and blood pressure variability (BPV). During the complete test, HRV was lower in healthy men than in female controls. Decreased HRV and increased BPV were observed in female patients compared to healthy women. Furthermore, systolic BPV was increased in male and female patients. However, linear (rmssd) and nonlinear (plvar2) parameters indicated that diastolic BPV decreased in male patients during orthostatic phase, but remained unchanged in female patients. Findings indicated gender dependent mechanisms for the regulation of diastolic blood pressure during orthostatic stress in patients.