Particulate air pollutants impact on heart rate variability and repolarisation

Abstract

Short-term elevations are ambient particulate matter (PM) might trigger acute coronary events including myocardial infarctions (MI). Multiple studies have reported that. Some even suggesting that ambient PM might trigger MI within one or two hours. Pathways thought to be important in the association between ambient PM and acute cardiovascular events include systemic inflammation, autonomic dysfunction, endothelial dysfunction, and local inflammation and oxidative stress. Several mechanisms have been proposed to mediate this response to air pollution including adverse changes in systolic blood pressure, heart rate variability and repolarization.