Relationship between relative aerobic power and echocardiographic characteristics in male athletes.
The relationship between relative aerobic power (rel.VO(2)max) as a generally accepted indicator of endurance capacity and certain characteristics of the athlete's heart, such as body-size related (relative) left ventricular (LV) diastolic wall thickness (WTd), internal diameter (LVIDd), muscle mass (MM), WTd/IDd, heart rate (HR), fractional shortening (FS) and E/A ratio, were investigated in 346 young males (18-35 years, 291 athletes of various events and 55 nonathletic control subjects). Rel.VO(2)max was measured by spiroergometry; cardiac characteristics were determined by two-dimensionally guided M-mode and Doppler-echocardiography. When the groups were pooled, correlation of rel.VO(2)max with the cardiac parameters was significant: LVMM.BSA(-1.5)= 0.413, LVWTd.BSA(-0.5)= 0.327, LVIDd.BSA(-0.5)= 0.292, HR =-0.434, E/A = 0.272 (P < 0.001), but no significant relationship was seen with FS and WTd/IDd. In the endurance trained group, rel. VO(2)max correlated significantly with LVMM.BSA(-1.5), LVWT.BSA(-0.5), HR, and E/A, in the ballgame players with LVMM.BSA(-1.5), LVWT.BSA(-0.5), and E/A, in the power-and-sprint event athletes with HR and E/A. In the control group, no significant relationship was observed. Results indicate that in athletes having higher endurance capacity maximal oxygen consumption depends largely on cardiac condition, while in athletes with a lower endurance capacity it can be limited by peripheral conditions.
Kneffel
Zsuzsanna
Z
Department of Health Sciences and Sports Medicine, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Horváth
Patrícia
P
Petrekanits
Máté
M
Németh
Hajnalka
H
Sidó
Zoltán
Z
Pavlik
Gábor
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005080:Exercise Test; D006801:Humans; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology*; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*