Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography
Original articleMyocardial Adaptation to Short-term High-intensity Exercise in Highly Trained Athletes
Section snippets
Screening and Approval Process
The protocol was approved by our human subjects review committee and the committee of the World Indoor Rowing Championships. Seventeen rowers scheduled to participate in the 2004 World Indoor Rowing Championship were recruited. Athletes rowed 2000 m using ergometers (Model C, Concept2 Inc, Morrisville, VT). These athletes volunteered for the study and provided written consent. Assessment included physical examination and a complete echocardiographic evaluation. Participants were screened not
Statistics
Data are presented as mean ± SD. Paired Student t test was used to compare changes in echocardiographic parameters before and after rowing. A Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated where appropriate using standard methods. Significance was set at P less than .05.
Standard Parameters
Seventeen volunteers were recruited for participation in the study. Complete pre- and postechocardiograms were obtained in all participants. Our study group included 12 men and 5 women with a mean age of 37 years (range 22-56). The mean finish time for men was 6 minutes 37 ± 27 seconds and for women it was 7 minutes 10 ± 9 seconds. Body weight did not change significantly (179 ± 30 vs 180 ± 28 lb, P = .93). Both systolic (120 ± 10 vs 126 ± 15 mm Hg, P = .24) and diastolic (72 ± 8 vs 68 ± 14 mm
Discussion
We sought to clarify the acute cardiac changes that occur with high-intensity exercise. These changes included a reversal in the LV diastolic filling pattern, augmentation of LV systolic function, and a reduction in RV apical ε.
During acute exercise, diastolic function must be augmented for LV filling to match the increased cardiac output. The shortened duration of diastole compromises LV filling, thereby potentially limiting the stroke volume. We found that the increased demands of exercise
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2013, Journal of the American Society of EchocardiographyCitation Excerpt :Our study, taking advantage of different groups of athletes (EAs and SAs, highly and moderately trained athletes, with or without RV dilatation), has shown that despite the existence of differences in RV and RA geometric measures, few meaningful differences in deformation exist, as RV and RA systolic and diastolic functions remain within normal ranges. There has been an ongoing controversy concerning longitudinal deformation of the RV free wall and especially its basic lateral segment,5,10-12 raising concern about potential myocardial damage due to endurance exercise, implying that exhausting training might lead to a type of RV cardiomyopathy.28-32 Our study, in concordance with findings by Oxborough et al.11 as well as D’Andrea et al.,10,33 has shown that even among highly trained athletes or athletes with dilated right ventricles performing endurance or strength exercise, global RV ε and SR, including basal deformation, are at least preserved if not increased.
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Supported by an Irish Board for Training in Cardiovascular Medicine and Department of Health and Children Cardiovascular Health Strategy Travelling Fellowship and an American Society of Echocardiography Research Fellowship Award (Dr Neilan).