Assessment of Heart Rate and Cardiac Repolarization Parametersin the Prone Position in Young Healthy Men

Introduction. The prone position is widely used in modern medicine, ranging from surgical procedures to the management of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted its clinical significance, demonstrating improvements in oxygenation and hemodynamics in patients. It is known that the prone position affects the electrical activity of the heart, causing changes in the axis and morphology of the QRS complex, as well as in repolarization parameters. These featuresmay mimic ischemic changes on the electrocardiogram. Contemporary studies also indicate a possible prolongation of the QT interval and its prognostic significance. The aim of the study is to assess the effect of body position (prone position) on heart rate and repolarization parameters according to electrocardiographic data in young healthy men. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Research Laboratory “Problems of Hypoxia” of Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University. The study included 18 young men without chronic or acute diseases. Electrocardiogram recordings were obtained in standard lead II in the supine position and in the prone position using the Poly-Spectrum hardware–software complex. The heart rate, QT interval, corrected QT interval (QTc), Tp–e interval, and the Tp–e/QT and Tp–e/QTc ratios were analyzed.Results. A statistically significant increase in heart rate was observed in the prone position, averaging 21.5% (12.8%; 31.0%). The QT interval duration in the prone position significantly decreased compared with the supine position, whereas QTc significantly increased. QT dispersion, Tp-e, as well as the Tp-e/QT and Tp-e/QTc ratios did not demonstrate significant changes.Discussion and conclusion. The prone position affects the electrophysiological parameters of the heart, leading to an increase in heart rate and the QTc interval while not significantly altering indices of repolarization dispersion, which may be relevant for the interpretation of the electrocardiogram in clinical practice.