Stefano Caselli1, Marco Cicconetti2, David Niederseer3, Christian Schmied3, Christine Attenhofer Jost4, Antonio Pelliccia5. 1. Cardiovascular Medicine Center Zurich, Hirslanden Klinik im Park, Seestrasse 247, Zurich, Switzerland; Institute of Sports Medicine and Science, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: stefanocasellimd@gmail.com. 2. Cardiovascular Medicine Center Zurich, Hirslanden Klinik im Park, Seestrasse 247, Zurich, Switzerland. 3. Department of Cardiology, University Heart Center Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland. 4. Cardiovascular Medicine Center Zurich, Hirslanden Klinik im Park, Seestrasse 247, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Cardiology, University Heart Center Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland. 5. Institute of Sports Medicine and Science, Rome, Italy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A variability in cardiac remodeling is observed in athletes regardless of age, sex, body size and sport participated. We sought to investigate whether other individual characteristics could affect the extent of Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). METHODS: From 2120 consecutive Olympic athletes, those with LVH (defined as LV Wall thickness ≥ 13 mm) were matched 1:1 by age, gender, body surface area and type of sport with non-LVH Athletes. Clinical and Echocardiographic variables were compared. RESULTS: 48 athletes with LVH (2.3%) and 48 matched non-LVH athletes were identified. LVH Athletes had higher body weight (90 ± 18 vs 81 ± 11Kg; p = 0.006) body mass index (26 ± 2 vs 24 ± 2 Kg/m2; p < 0.001) and body fat percentage (15 ± 7% vs 12 ± 4%; p = 0.016) compared to non-LVH Athletes. They also had higher systolic (123 ± 1 vs 116 ± 11 mmHg; p = 0.002) and diastolic blood pressure (76 ± 8 vs 71 ± 9 mmHg; p = 0.002). On exercise testing, LVH Athletes reached a lower index workload (3.7 ± 0.9 vs 4.1 ± 0.8 W/Kg; p = 0.013) and a higher peak diastolic blood pressure (79 ± 10 vs 74 ± 11 mmHg; p = 0.012) than those without LVH. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that diastolic blood pressure (OR 1.052; 95% CI from 1.011 to 1.130; p = 0.020) and BMI (OR 1.220; 95% CI from 1.016 to 1.465; p = 0.033) had the strongest association with LVH as categorical variable. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that increased blood pressure at rest and during exercise, together with larger body weight, body mass and fat percentage are associated with a higher degree of LVH, which is not associated with a greater physical performance and therefore possibly disproportionate to the sport activity.
BACKGROUND: A variability in cardiac remodeling is observed in athletes regardless of age, sex, body size and sport participated. We sought to investigate whether other individual characteristics could affect the extent of Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). METHODS: From 2120 consecutive Olympic athletes, those with LVH (defined as LV Wall thickness ≥ 13 mm) were matched 1:1 by age, gender, body surface area and type of sport with non-LVH Athletes. Clinical and Echocardiographic variables were compared. RESULTS: 48 athletes with LVH (2.3%) and 48 matched non-LVH athletes were identified. LVH Athletes had higher body weight (90 ± 18 vs 81 ± 11Kg; p = 0.006) body mass index (26 ± 2 vs 24 ± 2 Kg/m2; p < 0.001) and body fat percentage (15 ± 7% vs 12 ± 4%; p = 0.016) compared to non-LVH Athletes. They also had higher systolic (123 ± 1 vs 116 ± 11 mmHg; p = 0.002) and diastolic blood pressure (76 ± 8 vs 71 ± 9 mmHg; p = 0.002). On exercise testing, LVH Athletes reached a lower index workload (3.7 ± 0.9 vs 4.1 ± 0.8 W/Kg; p = 0.013) and a higher peak diastolic blood pressure (79 ± 10 vs 74 ± 11 mmHg; p = 0.012) than those without LVH. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that diastolic blood pressure (OR 1.052; 95% CI from 1.011 to 1.130; p = 0.020) and BMI (OR 1.220; 95% CI from 1.016 to 1.465; p = 0.033) had the strongest association with LVH as categorical variable. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that increased blood pressure at rest and during exercise, together with larger body weight, body mass and fat percentage are associated with a higher degree of LVH, which is not associated with a greater physical performance and therefore possibly disproportionate to the sport activity.