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Right atrial and ventricular adaptations to training in male Caucasian athletes: an echocardiographic study
Efstathios D Pagourelias1, Evangelia Kouidi, Georgios K Efthimiadis
1Third Cardiology Department, Hippokration Hospital, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Insights
Top athletes show altered right heart dimensions, but strain and diastolic function remain similar across endurance and strength training groups. This suggests training mode has minimal impact on right ventricular and atrial performance despite geometric changes.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Sports Medicine
- Cardiac Imaging
Background:
- Investigating right cardiac chamber remodeling in athletes is crucial for understanding exercise-induced cardiac adaptations.
- Different training modes may differentially affect cardiac structure and function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare systolic and diastolic properties of the right ventricle and right atrium in endurance athletes (EAs), strength-trained athletes (SAs), and untrained controls.
- To identify potential variations in right ventricular and right atrial remodeling based on training type.
Main Methods:
- Prospective enrollment of 108 male athletes (80 EAs, 28 SAs) and 26 controls.
- Utilized conventional echocardiography, including transtricuspid inflow, Doppler tissue imaging, and 2D-derived strain/strain rate indices for right heart chambers.
Main Results:
- Endurance athletes exhibited larger right ventricular and right atrial dimensions compared to strength-trained athletes and controls.
- No significant differences in global longitudinal strain were observed between groups.
- Strength-trained athletes showed higher global systolic strain rates and greater right atrial strain rate components (systolic and diastolic).
Conclusions:
- While athletes display altered right heart geometry, meaningful differences in right ventricular and atrial deformation and diastolic function are minimal across training types.
- Training mode appears to have a limited impact on the functional parameters of the right heart chambers despite observed dimensional changes.
Background:
The aim of this study was to investigate the systolic and diastolic properties of the right cardiac chambers (the right ventricle and right atrium) among different subsets of athletes to unveil potential variations in right ventricular and right atrial remodeling secondary to different training modes.
Methods:
A cohort of Caucasian male top-level athletes (n = 108; 80 endurance athletes [EAs], mean age, 31.2 ± 10.4 years; 28 strength-trained athletes [SAs], mean age, 27.4 ± 5.7 years) and untrained controls (n = 26; mean age, 26.6 ± 5.6 years) (P = .327) were prospectively enrolled. Conventional echocardiographic parameters, including transtricuspid inflow, Doppler tissue imaging, and two-dimensionally derived peak systolic longitudinal strain and strain rate indices of the right ventricle and right atrium, were calculated.
Results:
EAs had greater internal right ventricular and right atrial dimensions compared with SAs and controls. There were no significant differences concerning strain between groups (-23.1 ± 3.7% in EAs vs -25.1 ± 3.2% in SAs vs -23.1 ± 3.5% in controls, P = .052), with SAs presenting higher global systolic strain rates (-1.42 ± 0.22 sec(-1) in SAs vs -1.21 ± 0.21 sec(-1) in EAs vs -1.2 ± 0.28 sec(-1) in controls, P = .016), as well as greater right atrial strain rate systolic and diastolic components. Training volume (highly vs moderately trained athletes) did not significantly influence deformation parameters. No significant differences concerning diastolic transtricuspid inflow and Doppler tissue imaging indices were also noted among different athlete groups and controls.
Conclusions:
Despite the existence of right geometric alterations in athletes participating in different sport disciplines, few meaningful differences in deformation and diastolic function exist.
