Abstract
Early detection of exercise-induced cardiac anomalies is a key to clinical
management for individuals engaged in vigorous exercise training. This study
aimed to investigate cardiovascular adaptation in university students engaged in
intensive exercises using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. For this
prospective, single-center study, 50 university students who finished a
four-year intensively endurance training and 23 age- and gender- matched
controls received cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Exercised participants
were further divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. Left ventricular
volumes and volumes indexed to the body surface were calculated. Global peak
strains and systolic and diastolic peak strain rates were derived from cine
images using a feature tracking technique. Analysis of variance analyses were
performed. Fifty exercised participants (mean age: 21±1 y; 43 males, including
21 symptomatic and 29 asymptomatic cases) and 23 normal controls (mean age: 21±2
y, 20 males) were evaluated. Exercised participants exhibited a higher
end-diastolic left ventricular volume (76.0±10.6 ml vs. 63.5±7.5 ml,
p<0.001), a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (59.9%±5.3 vs.
63.0%±3.2, p=0.002) and a reduced global longitudinal strain (−18.25±3.32
vs.−19.85±1.29, p=0.004) than the normal control participants.
Symptomatic excised participants showed reduced peak strains compared to both
asymptomatic participants and normal controls. Only a circumferential diastolic
peak strain rate was reduced when compared between asymptomatic cases and
controls. In conclusions, highly intensive exercises could result in elevated
left ventricular volumes and reduced myocardial strains for young university
students. Furthermore, reduced myocardial strains were found for those
symptomatic cases which remain within non-pathological ranges.
Keywords
cardiac magnetic resonance - left ventricular remodeling - myocardial strain - strain rate - exercise Training
