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The relationship between right heart and aerobic capacity in large cohort of young elite athletes

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Abstract

We sought to investigate right heart remodeling and function in elite athlees, as well as the relationship between parameters of right ventricular (RV) and right atrial (RA) remodeling and indices of aerobic capacity. Elite male athletes (n = 352) underwent echocardiographic examination including the evaluation of RV and RA parameters. Maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing was performed to measure maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT) and heart rate reserve (HRR). The right heart remodeling was different between groups. Soccer players had significantly higher RV and RA diameters indexed for BSA. RV filling pressure assessed by tricuspid E/e’ ratio was the lowest in soccer players, suggesting somewhat better RV diastolic function. Functional capacity also varies between groups of athletes. VO2max was the highest among soccer players, somewhat lower in basketball players and and the lowest among water polo players (55.3 ± 5.6 vs. 52.1 ± 5.9 vs. 53.5 ± 4.8 ml/kg/min, p < 0.001). Age, average weekly duration of training, percentage of body fat, as well as parameters of cardiopulmonary fitness (VO2max, O2 pulse, HRR), correlated well with parameters of RV and RA structure and function in the whole study population. However, systolic blood pressure at rest, VO2max and LV mass index are independently associated with RV and RA structure, whereas duration of training shows the best association with parameters of RV systolic and diastolic function. Even though soccer, water polo and basketball belong to the same group of sports, there is a significant difference in RV and RA remodeling between these three groups. It seems that right heart adaptation is the most pronounced in soccer players, who also have the highest maximal oxygen consumption. Further studies are necessary to investigate the mechanisms of these differences.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (No III41022 and III41025).

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  1. Jelena Suzic Lazic and Marijana Tadic contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Clinical Hospital Center “Dr. Dragisa Misovic - Dedinje”, Belgrade, Serbia

    Jelena Suzic Lazic, Marijana Tadic & Dragan Radovanovic

  2. Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Berlin, Germany

    Marijana Tadic

  3. Serbian Institute for Sport and Sports Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia

    Milena Antic

  4. Institute of Medical Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Dejan Nesic & Sanja Mazic

  5. Department of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA

    Rastko Rakocevic

  6. Department of Cardiology, University Clinical Hospital Center “Dr. Dragisa Misovic - Dedinje”, Heroja Milana Tepica 1, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Jelena Suzic Lazic

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  1. Jelena Suzic Lazic
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Correspondence to Jelena Suzic Lazic.

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Lazic, J.S., Tadic, M., Antic, M. et al. The relationship between right heart and aerobic capacity in large cohort of young elite athletes. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 35, 1027–1036 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-019-01575-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-019-01575-z

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