Spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity for risk stratification of heart failure patients: optimal cutoff and age effects* *Accepted Manuscript (AM) published as [Gouveia, S., Scotto, M.G., Pinna, G.D., Maestri, R., La Rovere, M.T., Ferreira, P.J.S.G.: Spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity for risk stratification of heart failure patients: optimal cutoff and age effects. Clinical Science, 129(12), 2015, 1163-1172.] [DOI: 10.1042/CS20150341]. The final publication is available at Clinical Science via http://www.clinsci.org/content/129/12/1163.full-text.pdf. Sónia Gouveia (sonia.gouveia@ua.pt), Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA) and Centro I&D em Matemática e Aplicações (CIDMA), University of Aveiro, Portugal. Manuel G. Scotto (mscotto@ua.pt), CEMAT and Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. Gian Domenico Pinna (giandomenico.pinna@fsm.it), Fondazione S. Maugeri, Clinica del Lavoro e della Riabilitazione, IRCCS Istituto Scientifico di Montescano, Montescano, Italy. Roberto Maestri (roberto.maestri@fsm.it), Fondazione S. Maugeri, Clinica del Lavoro e della Riabilitazione, IRCCS Istituto Scientifico di Montescano, Montescano, Italy. Maria Teresa La Rovere (mariateresa.larovere@fsm.it), Fondazione S. Maugeri, Clinica del Lavoro e della Riabilitazione, IRCCS Istituto Scientifico di Montescano, Montescano, Italy. Paulo J. S. G. Ferreira (pjf@ua.pt), IEETA and Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics (DETI), University of Aveiro, Portugal. Author for correspondence: Sónia Gouveia (sonia.gouveia@ua.pt), University of Aveiro (UA), Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro – Portugal. Keywords: spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity; spectral analysis; transfer function; heart failure; risk stratification; aging.