Cardiac repolarization and autonomic regulation during short-term cold exposure in hypertensive men: an experimental study

The aim of our study was to assess the effect of short-term cold exposure, typical in subarctic climate, on cardiac electrical function among untreated middle-aged hypertensive men. We conducted a population-based recruitment of 51 hypertensive men and a control group of 32 men without hypertension (age 55-65 years) who underwent whole-body cold exposure (15 min exposure to temperature -10°C, wind 3 m/s, winter clothes). Conduction times and amplitudes, vectorcardiography, arrhythmias, and heart rate variability (autonomic nervous function) were assessed. Short-term cold exposure increased T-peak to T-end interval from 67 to 72 ms (p