Atrial and ventricular longitudinal strain in elite cyclists.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Sports Medicine
• Echocardiography

Background:

• Differentiating physiological from pathological cardiac remodeling in elite athletes is challenging.
• Left ventricular strain is standard in echocardiography, but data on other chambers (right ventricle, atria) are limited in athletes.
• Elite athletes often exhibit cardiac adaptations that can mimic or mask underlying heart conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess cardiac strain parameters in elite male professional cyclists.
• To compare these parameters with reference values in healthy males.
• To investigate the relationship between cardiac strain and left ventricular mass.

Main Methods:

• Transthoracic echocardiography with longitudinal strain analysis of all cardiac chambers.
• Study included 112 elite male professional cyclists (aged 24-32 years).
• Comparison with published reference values for healthy males.

Main Results:

• Left ventricular global longitudinal strain was significantly higher than reference values.
• Right ventricular free wall strain was not significantly different from reference values.
• Left and right atrial reservoir and conduit strains were significantly higher, while contractile strains were not different from reference values.
• Strain values were independent of chamber sizes.
• Inverse association found between left ventricular mass index and left atrial reservoir and conduit strains.

Conclusions:

• Cardiac strain parameters in elite cyclists are independent of the degree of cardiac hypertrophy.
• Lower-than-expected longitudinal strain in any chamber may indicate underlying myocardial disease.
• Strain analysis provides valuable insights into cardiac remodeling in elite athletes.