Nemzeti Kardiovaszkuláris Laboratórium(RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00003) Funder: NRDIO
(János Bolyai Research Scholarship)
(K135076) Funder: NRDIO
(TKP2021-NKTA-46)
(ÚNKP-22-3-II-SE-42) Funder: MIT
(ÚNKP-22-3-II-SE-47)
(ÚNKP-23-5-SE-14)
The aim of this study was to characterize the right ventricular (RV) contraction pattern
and its associations with exercise capacity in a large cohort of adolescent athletes
using resting three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE). We enrolled 215 adolescent
athletes (16±1 years, 169 males, 12±6 hours of training/week) and compared them to
38 age- and sex-matched healthy, sedentary adolescents. We measured the 3DE-derived
biventricular ejection fractions (EF). We also determined the relative contributions
of longitudinal EF (LEF/RVEF) and radial EF (REF/RVEF) to the RVEF. Same-day cardiopulmonary
exercise testing was performed to calculate VO2/kg. Both LV and RVEFs were significantly
lower (athletes vs controls; LVEF: 57±4 vs 61±3, RVEF: 55±5 vs 60±5%, p<0.001). Interestingly,
while the relative contribution of radial shortening to the global RV EF was also
reduced (REF/RVEF: 0.40±0.10 vs 0.49±0.06, p<0.001), the contribution of the longitudinal
contraction was significantly higher in athletes (LEF/RVEF: 0.45±0.08 vs 0.40±0.07,
p<0.01). The supernormal longitudinal shortening correlated weakly with a higher VO2/kg
(r= 0.138, P = 0.044). Similarly to the adult athlete’s heart, the cardiac adaptation
of adolescent athletes comprises higher biventricular volumes and lower resting functional
measures with supernormal RV longitudinal shortening. Characteristic exercise-induced
structural and functional cardiac changes are already present in adolescence.
