Key result
Outdoor cold-water swimming significantly lengthened the post-exercise QTc interval compared to baseline (457.2 vs. 437.7 ms, p = 0.012) without altering cardiac function.
Why the study?
Concerns have emerged about the potential risk of acute adverse cardiac events during outdoor cold-water swimming, particularly during endurance events.
Does prolonged outdoor cold-water swimming alter cardiac electrical and functional activity in healthy trained athletes?
Observational
Does prolonged outdoor cold-water swimming alter cardiac electrical and functional activity in healthy trained athletes?
Absolute Event Rate: 457.2% vs 437.7%
p-value: p=0.012
Prolonged outdoor cold-water swimming acutely delays cardiac repolarization (QTc lengthening) without altering biventricular systolic function in trained athletes.
May prompt QTc monitoring in cold-water swimmers; hypothesis-generating for arrhythmic risk and needs prospective trials.
AIMS: Participation in outdoor cold-water swimming (OCWS) events combines endurance exercise and cold exposure. Concerns have emerged about the potential risk of acute adverse cardiac events during OCWS, particularly during endurance events. We analysed the effect of prolonged OCWS on cardiac function in trained athletes. METHODS: ) was monitored using an ingestible temperature sensor during and up to 1 h after the swim. Body composition, blood pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG), and transthoracic echocardiography were assessed 1 day before the event and within the first hour upon completion of the swim. RESULTS: and fat mass was 25.2 ± 9.1 %. Mean duration of swimming was 214 ± 115 min. Minimum Tcore was 35.6 ± 1.3 °C. A significant lengthening of the QT interval corrected (QTc) for heart rate was observed post-exercise (437.7 ± 27.7 vs. 457.2 ± 35.9 ms, p = 0.012), with 5 participants exhibiting post-exercise QTc >500ms. OCWS did not alter the biventricular systolic function and left ventricular relaxation. No correlation was observed between ΔQTc and ΔTcore. CONCLUSION: OCWS seemed to acutely delay post-exercise cardiac repolarization without alteration of cardiac function in a healthy trained population. Additional investigations would be warranted to explore the clinical implications of QT lengthening and its relationship with autonomic nervous system regulation during OCWS.
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Faivre-Rampant et al. (2024) conducted an observational in Healthy trained athletes. Outdoor cold-water swimming (OCWS) vs. Pre-exercise baseline was evaluated on QT interval corrected (QTc) for heart rate (p=0.012). Outdoor cold-water swimming significantly lengthened the post-exercise QTc interval compared to baseline (457.2 vs. 437.7 ms, p = 0.012) without altering cardiac function.
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