Association Between Left Ventricular Noncompaction and Vigorous Physical Activity.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Exercise Physiology

Background:

• Left ventricular (LV) hypertrabeculation meeting noncompaction cardiomyopathy criteria is observed in athletes.
• The connection between LV noncompaction (LVNC) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) in the general population remains debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between LVNC phenotype identified via cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging and accelerometer-measured physical activity (PA).
• To assess this relationship in middle-aged, non-athlete participants of the Progression of Early Subclinical Atherosclerosis (PESA) study.

Main Methods:

• Utilized accelerometer data to measure PA in 4,184 cardiovascular disease-free PESA participants.
• Performed CMR on 705 participants (mean age 48 ± 4 years, 16% women) to assess LVNC using Petersen, Jacquier, Grothoff, and Stacey criteria.
• Categorized VPA into no VPA and five sex-specific quintiles (Q1-Q5).

Main Results:

• LVNC prevalence (Petersen criterion) was higher in the highest VPA quintile (Q5, 30.5%) compared to no VPA (14.2%).
• Increased prevalence of LVNC was also observed with Jacquier (Q5: 27.4% vs. no VPA: 12.8%) and Grothoff (Q5: 15.8% vs. no VPA: 7.1%) criteria in the highest VPA group.
• The systolic Stacey criterion showed low prevalence (3.6%) and no significant difference between no VPA and Q5.

Conclusions:

• Vigorous physical activity (VPA) is associated with a greater prevalence of CMR-detected LVNC phenotype in a community-based cohort.
• This association was independent of LV volumes, suggesting VPA as a potential determinant of LV hypertrabeculation in asymptomatic individuals.