Impaired cardiac mechanical synchrony revealed with increased myocardial work in women with advanced age

Background: Whether the synchronous nature of the myocardium is sex-dependent or affected by the aging process remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the influence of sex and age on cardiac mechanical synchrony during controlled hemodynamic stress. Methods: Transthoracic speckle-tracking echocardiography analyses and central hemodynamics were assessed at rest and during moderate- to high-intensity exercise in healthy young ( 0.05). The rate pressure product, an index of myocardial work, did not differ between sex and age groups at rest and during exercise at a given percentage of peak heart rate (P > 0.05). A consistent age effect was observed for transverse LVMD (P-for-age ≤ 0.011). Specifically, older women presented with marked increments (≥42 %) in TSR TPSD at all exercise levels compared with younger women (P ≤ 0.005). Sex per se did not generally affect LVMD. Conclusion: A prevailing impairment of cardiac mechanical synchrony in the transverse axis of the left ventricle is revealed during conditions of elevated hemodynamic stress in women with advanced age.