Holter changes resulting from right-sided and bilateral infrastellate upper thoracic sympathectomy

Background We tested the hypothesis that no right-sided dominance exists after infrastellate surgical upper-thoracic sympathectomy. We aimed to confirm whether a significant bradycardia was constant and only dependent on the right side. Methods We performed 24-hour Holter electrocardiographic recordings in 12 patients referred for bilateral sympathectomy. Surgery was performed at two distinct times allowing for the study of the consequences of unilateral right and bilateral sympathectomy. Results Heart rate was 77 ± 8 beats per minute before surgery on the 24-hour recording and significantly decreased after bilateral (67.8 ± 6.5 beats per minute; p< 0.05) but not after unilateral right sympathectomy. Consistently spectral analysis variables significantly changed after bilateral surgery but showed no right-sided dominance. Little effect of sympathectomy was found on the QT interval, which tended to decrease after bilateral sympathectomy. Conclusions Patients should be informed of the bradycardia resulting from sympathectomy. No right-sided dominance can be found consistently with the random distribution of substellate cardiac fibers reported in anatomic studies.