Athlete's heart in postmenopausal former elite endurance female athletes.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate cardiac structure and function and exercise capacity in senior former elite athlete women.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Twenty postmenopausal former elite endurance athletes and 19 age-matched sedentary controls.


METHODS
All subjects underwent transthoracic Doppler echocardiography and maximal exercise test on a bicycle ergometer.


METHODS
Cardiac chamber dimensions, wall thickness, cardiac function, and exercise capacity.


RESULTS
The athletes had a greater exercise capacity (183 +/- 26 vs. 144 +/- 36 W; P < 0.01) compared with controls. Three of 20 (15%) athletes and 9 of 19 (47%) controls exhibited ST depressions during exercise test (P < 0.05). Echocardiographic measurements demonstrated larger left ventricular diameter (2.9 +/- 0.3 vs. 2.6 +/- 0.2 cm/m; P < 0.01), left ventricular volume (64 +/- 14 vs. 54 +/- 8 mL/m; P < 0.05), right ventricular diameter (1.6 +/- 0.2 vs. 1.4 +/- 0.2 cm/m; P < 0.01), left atrial volume (20.8 +/- 6 vs. 16.6 +/- 3.6 mL/m; P < 0.05), and stroke volume (45 +/- 10 vs. 36 +/- 5 mL/m; P < 0.01) in athletes than controls, whereas interventricular septum (9.3 +/- 1.7 vs. 10.1 +/- 1.8 mm; P > 0.05) and posterior wall thickness (9.0 +/- 1.6 vs. 9.2 +/- 1.0 mm; P > 0.05) did not differ between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates cardiac enlargement without increased wall thickness in postmenopausal former elite endurance athlete women. Our results also indicate that long-term training maintains a high level of cardiovascular fitness in the aging female athletes.
Hagmar
Magnus
M
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. m.hagmar@home.se
Hirschberg
Angelica Lindén
AL
Lindholm
Caroline
C
Schenck-Gustafsson
Karin
K
Eriksson
Maria J
MJ
D002302:Cardiac Output / Q000502:physiology*; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010807:Physical Endurance; D017698:Postmenopause; D013548:Sweden