Jozef Staško, Anton Farkaš, Denisa Čelovská, Jozef Gonsorčík
Despite recent progress in pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapy of heart failure, it is still associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Autonomic nervous dysfunction is a significant pathogenetic factor that contributes to an unfavourable prognosis of the patients with heart failure. Baroreflex sensitivity as an indicator of autonomic nervous system balance offers novel possibilities of identification of the patients at high risk of heart failure worsening and sudden cardiac death. Different methods of baroreflex sensitivity measurement have advantage of noninvasive assessment and could find their place in clinical work-up to identify patients at increased risk.