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QT dispersion in elderly athletes with left ventricular hypertrophy
F Galetta1, F Franzoni, G Santoro
1Department of Internal Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. fgaletta@med.unipi.it
International Journal of Sports Medicine
|June 5, 2003
Summary
Elderly endurance athletes with training-induced cardiac hypertrophy show lower QT dispersion than those with hypertensive hypertrophy. This may help differentiate physiologic from pathologic cardiac hypertrophy in older adults.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Sports Medicine
- Gerontology
Background:
- Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy can occur due to endurance training or hypertension.
- Differentiating physiologic from pathologic hypertrophy is crucial for risk assessment in elderly individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate QT dispersion in elderly endurance athletes with LV hypertrophy.
- To compare QT dispersion in athletes versus hypertensive patients and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Compared 16 elderly male endurance athletes (mean age 67.6 years) with LV hypertrophy to 16 hypertensive patients and 16 healthy controls.
- Utilized echocardiogram and 12-lead electrocardiogram to assess LV mass and QT dispersion.
- Calculated corrected QT (QTc) dispersion using Bazett's formula.
Main Results:
- Athletes and hypertensive patients had significantly higher LV mass than controls (p < 0.001).
- Athletes exhibited significantly lower QT dispersion (38.6 ms) and QTc dispersion (39.4 ms) compared to hypertensive patients (68.4 ms and 72.2 ms, respectively; p < 0.001).
- QT dispersion in athletes was comparable to healthy controls.
Conclusions:
- Training-induced LV hypertrophy in elderly athletes is associated with lower QT dispersion than hypertensive hypertrophy.
- QT dispersion may serve as a simple, cost-effective screening tool to distinguish physiologic from pathologic LV hypertrophy in the elderly.