title: Effects of age on ventricular performance during graded supine exercise.
abstract: To assess the effects of age on ventricular performance, graded supine exercise tests with equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography were performed in six normal subjects of mean age 37 +/- 4 years and in eight normal subjects with a mean age of 59 +/- 2 years. At a standard submaximal work load, older subjects had a similar heart rate (older: 126 +/- 10, younger: 128 +/- 5 bpm) and systolic blood pressure responses (older: 198 +/- 24, younger: 202 +/- 24 mm Hg). Cardiac output counts increased appropriately in both groups during submaximal exercise. However, when expressed as percent change from resting values, the increases in cardiac output (older: 125 +/- 14, younger: 75 +/- 10 L/min; p less than 0.05) were greater for the older subjects. The percent change in end-diastolic counts (older: 8.4 +/- 5, younger: -2.8 +/- 4), stroke counts (older: 26 +/- 6, younger: 8.6 +/- 4), and ejection fraction (older: 18 +/- 3, younger: 11 +/- 1%) in proceeding from rest to exercise Stage III (600 kg-m/min) was greater for the older subjects. Age-related differences in each of these measurements were significant at p less than 0.05. These findings suggest that cardiac output during exercise is maintained by an increased heart rate in younger subjects, and by a combination of increased heart rate and the Frank-Starling mechanism in older individuals. Since the heart rate and mean blood pressure response to exercise were similar in both groups, the use of the Frank-Starling mechanism during exercise in older subjects suggests that age-related differences in ventricular preload are important in modulating the performance of the aging left ventricle.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002302:Cardiac Output; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011187:Posture; D013318:Stroke Volume