title: Gender differences in ventricular remodeling and function in college athletes, insights from lean body mass scaling and deformation imaging.
abstract: Several studies suggest gender differences in ventricular dimensions in athletes. Few studies have, however, made comparisons of data indexed for lean body mass (LBM) using allometry. Ninety Caucasian college athletes (mixed sports) who were matched for age, ethnicity, and sport total cardiovascular demands underwent dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan for quantification of LBM. Athletes underwent comprehensive assessment of left and right ventricular and atrial structure and function using 2-dimensional echocardiography and deformation imaging using the TomTec analysis system. The mean age of the study population was 18.9 ± 1.9 years. Female athletes (n = 45) had a greater fat free percentage (19.4 ± 3.7%) compared to male athletes (11.5 ± 3.7%). When scaled to body surface area, male had on average 19 ± 3% (p <0.001) greater left ventricular (LV) mass; in contrast, when scaled to LBM, there was no significant difference in indexed LV mass -1.4 ± 3.0% (p = 0.63). Similarly, when allometrically scaled to LBM, there was no significant gender-based difference in LV or left atrial volumes. Although female athletes had mildly higher LV ejection fraction and LV global longitudinal strain in absolute value, systolic strain rate and allometrically indexed stroke volume were not different between genders (1.5 ± 3.6% [p = 0.63] and 0.0 ± 3.7% [p = 0.93], respectively). There were no differences in any of the functional atrial indexes including strain or strain rate parameters. In conclusion, gender-related differences in ventricular dimensions or function (stroke volume) appear less marked, if not absent, when indexing using LBM allometrically.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giraldeau
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Yukari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Gherardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Finocchiaro
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California; Division of Epidemiology and Research, Leuven University, Belgium.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuznetsova
authors.affiliation: John Moores University, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lord
authors.affiliation: John Moores University, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Keith P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: John Moores University, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oxborough
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Ingela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schnittger
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Froelicher
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Euan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford, California. Electronic address: fhaddad@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haddad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes; D015992:Body Mass Index; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students; D013851:Thinness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016276:Ventricular Function / Q000502:physiology*; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult