Blood Pressure Variability After Non-invasive Low-level Tragus Stimulation in Acute Heart Failure

Higher blood pressure (BP) variability (BPV) was shown to be strong predictors of poor cardiovascular outcomes in heart failure (HF). It is currently unknown if low-level tragus stimulation (LLTS) would lead to improvement in BPV in acute HF (AHF). The 22 patients with AHF (median 80 yrs, males 60%) were randomly assigned to active or sham group using an ear clip attached to the tragus (active group) or the earlobe (sham group) for 1 h daily over 5 days. In the active group, standard deviation (SD), coefficient of variation (CV) and δ in SBP were significantly decreased after LLTS (all p < 0.05). All the changes in SD, CV and δ in SBP before and after stimulation were also significantly different between active and sham groups (all p < 0.05). This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the beneficial effects of LLTS on BPV in AHF.