1. Right Ventricular Structure and Function in Adolescent Athletes: A 3D Echocardiographic Study.
- Author
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Ujvári, Adrienn, Fábián, Alexandra, Lakatos, Bálint, Tokodi, Márton, Ladányi, Zsuzsanna, Sydó, Nóra, Csulak, Emese, Vágó, Hajnalka, Juhász, Vencel, Grebur, Kinga, Szűcs, Andrea, Zámodics, Márk, Babity, Máté, Kiss, Orsolya, Merkely, Béla, and Kovács, Attila
- Subjects
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OXYGEN saturation , *VENTRICULAR ejection fraction , *RESEARCH funding , *SEX distribution , *SEDENTARY lifestyles , *HEART physiology , *PHYSICAL training & conditioning , *AGE distribution , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *ATHLETES , *CARDIOPULMONARY system , *EXERCISE tolerance , *RIGHT heart ventricle , *EXERCISE tests , *COMPARATIVE studies , *ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY , *GLOBAL longitudinal strain - Abstract
The 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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