Patent ID: 8577456

Claim:
A system comprising: a cardiac rhythm management device, the cardiac rhythm management device comprising: an atrial pacing circuit, configured to provide, during a testing time period, atrial pacing to a subject at rest, over a specified range of atrial pacing rates or intervals; and an intrinsic AV delay measurement circuit, configured to: measure, during the testing time period, intrinsic AV delays of the subject, over the specified range of atrial pacing rates or intervals; determine a baseline intrinsic AV delay of the subject at rest during a time other than the testing time period; and in response to and after the atrial pacing is terminated, measure intrinsic AV delays of the subject during a recovery time period; determine a duration of the recovery time period based on the measured intrinsic AV delays; and a processor, included in or coupled to the cardiac rhythm management device, the processor configured to use information about the duration of the recovery time period of the intrinsic AV delay to determine a first autonomic status indicator representative of a sympathetic/parasympathetic balance of the subject.