Gender differences in QTc interval in young, trained individuals with lower spinal cord injury

Study design: Cross-sectional comparison. Objective: To examine gender differences in rate-corrected QT interval (QTc), an index of ventricular depolarization/repolarization, in young, trained men and women with lower spinal cord injury (SCI) and able-bodied (AB) controls. Setting: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Exercise and Cardiovascular Research Lab, USA. Methods: Subjects consisted of 16 athletes with SCI (eight men and eight women) and 16 age-matched AB active controls (eight men and eight women). QT interval dynamics was derived from ECG recordings and rate corrected using the Bazett formula. Results: Men with SCI had QTc similar to that of AB men (369.3±7.5 versus 357.9±3.0 ms, P>0.05). Women with SCI had QTc similar to that of AB women (400.0±4.6 versus 385.2±6.5 ms, P>0.05). AB women had longer QTc interval than AB men, and SCI women had longer QTc than SCI men (P<0.05). Conclusions: Gender differences in ventricular depolarization/repolarization are present in trained individuals with SCI. Thus, similar to their AB gender-matched peers, women with SCI have longer QTc intervals and may be at greater risk for the development of untoward cardiac arrhythmias than men with SCI.