Affiliation:
1. Heart and Vascular Center, Semmelweis University, Budapest,
Hungary
Abstract
AbstractThe aim of this study was to characterize the right ventricular (RV) contraction
pattern and its associations with exercise capacity in a large cohort of
adolescent athletes using resting three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE). We
enrolled 215 adolescent athletes (16±1 years, 169 males, 12±6 hours of
training/week) and compared them to 38 age and sex-matched healthy, sedentary
adolescents. We measured the 3DE-derived biventricular ejection fractions (EF).
We also determined the relative contributions of longitudinal EF (LEF/RVEF) and
radial EF (REF/RVEF) to the RVEF. Same-day cardiopulmonary exercise testing was
performed to calculate VO2/kg. Both LV and RVEFs were significantly
lower (athletes vs. controls; LVEF: 57±4 vs 61±3, RVEF: 55±5 vs 60±5%,
p<0.001). Interestingly, while the relative contribution of radial shortening
to the global RV EF was also reduced (REF/RVEF: 0.40±0.10 vs 0.49±0.06,
p<0.001), the contribution of the longitudinal contraction was significantly
higher in athletes (LEF/RVEF: 0.45±0.08 vs 0.40±0.07, p<0.01). The
supernormal longitudinal shortening correlated weakly with a higher
VO2/kg (r=0.138, P=0.044). Similarly to the adult athlete’s
heart, the cardiac adaptation of adolescent athletes comprises higher
biventricular volumes and lower resting functional measures with supernormal RV
longitudinal shortening. Characteristic exercise-induced structural and
functional cardiac changes are already present in adolescence.
Funder
European Union
Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovaciós Alap