Wang J, Liu J, Gao L, et al. - Researchers examined if assessment of preoperative heart rate variability (HRV) could aid in predicting lymph node metastasis (LNM) in patients with cervical cancer (CC).

• A total of 77 patients were included, 18 with LNM and 59 with no LNM.

• HRV time domain, frequency domain and Poincaré plot parameters (ie, SDNN, RMSSD, LF, HF, LF/HF, SD1, SD2 and SD2/SD1) were determined via analyzing a 5-minute resting electrocardiogram (ECG) obtained before surgery.

• Findings revealed significantly lower SDNN, LF, and SD2 in the LNM group vs the non-LNM group.

• Overall, HRV is identified to be linked with CC LNM, and could have a potential value as noninvasive biomarker for the prediction of LNM in CC patients.