[Heart rate and rhythm during flight in civil pilots undergoing aerobatics. A Holter study]

Variations in heart rate and arrhythmic risk were analysed during aerobatic manoeuvres carried out by 23 amateur pilots, affiliated to an air club or in the French national team, during training or competitive flight, by 43 Holter 2-channel continuous electrocardiographic recordings. The maximum, mean and minimum heart rates were raised before the flight started and were observed to attain or even exceed the age-predicted maximum heart rate during the manoeuvres. These values were independent of age, the pilot's experience, the acceleration forces, the duration of the flight or the aerobatic figures performed. On the other hand, the heart rate was much higher during competition than during training and pilot experience modified its variations, indicating that psychological stress played a major role in inducing the tachycardia. Aerobatic flying was only mildly arrhythmogenic, inducing some isolated extrasystoles and one short run of asymptomatic supraventricular tachycardia. Holter recording is a simple and economic method of monitoring aerobatic pilots and could help to improve training methods and our understanding of the physiological changes observed during flight.