The aim of this work was to obtain insights of the participation of the autonomic nervous system in different stages of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) by heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Studying subjects with no valve impairments and CAVD patients, we also sought to quantify the independent contribution or explanatory capacity of the aortic valve echocardiographic parameters involved in the HRV changes caused by active standing using hierarchical partitioning models to consider other variables or potential confounders. We detected smaller adjustments of the cardiac autonomic response at active standing caused specifically by the aortic valve deterioration. The highest association (i.e., the highest percentage of independent exploratory capacity) was found between the aortic valve area and the active standing changes in the short-term HRV scaling exponent α1 (4.591%). The valve's maximum pressure gradient echocardiographic parameter was present in most models assessed (in six out of eight models of HRV indices that included a valve parameter as an independent variable). Overall, our study provides insights with a wider perspective to explore and consider CAVD as a neurocardiovascular pathology. This pathology involves autonomic-driven compensatory mechanisms that seem generated by the aortic valve deterioration.
Keywords: active standing; autonomic nervous system; calcific aortic valve disease; heart rate variability; hierarchical partitioning.