Significant reduction of heart rate variability is a feature of cirrhosis acute decompensation most notable in acute-on-chronic liver failure and predicts 90-day mortality Running title: Loss of HRV in cirrhosis decompensation

1Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Bonn, Germany Institiute of Liver and Digestive Health, University College London Medical School Royal Free Hospital Campus, London, UK Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark Department of Internal Medicine II, University of Bonn, Germany Isansys Limited, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxford, UK European Foundation for the Study of Chronic Liver Failure, Barcelona, Spain 7 Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Frankfurt Am Main, Germany