title: Heart rate never lies: interventional cardiologist and Braude's quote revised.
abstract: Interventional cardiologists may be immune to stress, allowing them to perform complex percutaneous interventions under pressure.
  
  
  
  To assess heart rate (HR) variations as a surrogate marker of stress of interventional cardiologists during percutaneous cardiac procedures and in every-day life.
  
  
  
  This is a single-centre observational study including a total of six male interventional cardiologists performing coronary interventions and pacemaker implantations. Participants were asked to record their HR with the Apple Watch Device during procedures, every-day life and control activities such as outpatient consultations, sport, marital conflicts and sexual intercourse.
  
  
  
  Average daily HR was 88±17 bpm. During work days, HR increased significantly during procedures (90±17 bpm) compared with days outside the cathlab (87±17 bpm, p=0.02). The average HR was higher during a regular week working (88±16 bpm) compared with weekends off (84±18 bpm, p=0.002). Complex cardiac procedures were associated with higher HR up to 122 bpm. Peak HR were higher during physical exertion. Of note, participants complained of hypersexuality and mania after night shifts.
  
  
  
  Work and especially percutaneous cardiac procedures increase HR independently of physical exertion suggesting that interventional cardiologists experience mental stress and emotions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Stauffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Goy
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Serban
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puricel
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Aurélien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frobert
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Togni
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology , University & Hospital , Fribourg , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arroyo
keywords: INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY; heart rate; percutaneous coronary intervention; physical exertion
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