{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T15:51:40Z","timestamp":1781106700127,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,29]],"date-time":"2024-03-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711670400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports","award":["216-2160133-0330"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["216-2160133-0330"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathophysiology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The present study investigated the influence of SCUBA dives with compressed air at depths of 10 and 20 m on ECG-derived HRV parameters in apparently healthy individuals. We hypothesized that cardiac sympathetic activity (measured by HRV parameters) adapts proportionally to diving depth, and that both time- and frequency-domain parameters are sensitive enough to track changes in cardiac ANS function during diving activities and subsequently during the recovery period. Eleven healthy middle-aged recreational divers (nine men and two women, age 43 \u00b1 8, all nonsmokers) volunteered to participate in the present study. The participants (all open-circuit divers) were equipped with dry suits and ECG Holter devices and were later randomly assigned to dive pairs and depths (10 m vs. 20 m), and each participant served as his or her own control. No interaction effects (diving depth x time epoch) were found for the most commonly used HRV markers. More precisely, in response to two different diving protocols, a significant post hoc effect of time was observed for HR and SDNN, as these parameters transiently decreased during the dives and returned to baseline after ascent (p &lt; 0.001). The ULF, VLF (p &lt; 0.003), TP, and LF parameters decreased significantly during the dives, while HF significantly increased (p &lt; 0.003). SCUBA diving apparently challenges the cardiac ANS, even in healthy individuals. The observed changes reveal possible underwater methods of influencing the parasympathetic activity of the heart depending on the depth of the dive. These results identify autonomic nervous system markers to track the cardiovascular risk related to diving and point to the possibility of tracking cardiovascular system benefits during underwater activities in selected patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathophysiology31020014","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,1]],"date-time":"2024-04-01T07:18:28Z","timestamp":1711955908000},"page":"183-189","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Depth of SCUBA Diving Affects Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"31","author":[{"given":"Marina","family":"Vuli\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Centre Vra\u010dar, Department for Internal Medicine, St. Bojanska 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Branislav","family":"Milovanovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neurocardiology Laboratory, Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases \u201cDedinje\u201d, 111040 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ante","family":"Obad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University Department of Health Studies, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Du\u0161ka","family":"Glava\u0161","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Igor","family":"Glavicic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University Department of Marine Studies, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Damir","family":"Zubac","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne, Dusseldorf, University Hospital of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"},{"name":"Science and Research Center Koper, Institute for Kinesiology Research, 6000 Koper, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maja","family":"Valic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zoran","family":"Valic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Integrative Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2018.00110","article-title":"Effect of Shallow and Deep SCUBA Dives on Heart Rate Variability","volume":"9","author":"Noh","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. 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Health"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"w30039","DOI":"10.4414\/SMW.2021.w30039","article-title":"Heart rate profiles and heart rate variability during scuba diving","volume":"151","author":"Schaller","year":"2021","journal-title":"Swiss Med. Wkly."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1177\/1099800419877442","article-title":"Heart Rate Variability and Risk of All-Cause Death and Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies","volume":"22","author":"Fang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biol. Res. Nurs."}],"container-title":["Pathophysiology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1873-149X\/31\/2\/14\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T14:21:15Z","timestamp":1760106075000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1873-149X\/31\/2\/14"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,29]]},"references-count":19,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6]]}},"alternative-id":["pathophysiology31020014"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/pathophysiology31020014","relation":{},"ISSN":["1873-149X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1873-149X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,29]]}}}