ABC | Volume 111, Nº6, December 2018

Original Article Silva et al Cardiac and vascular features in athletes Arq Bras Cardiol. 2018; 111(6):772-781 Figure 1 – Flow-mediated dilation measurements and peripheral vascular resistance. PG: powerlifters group, RG: long-distance runners group. The differences were assessed by Student’s t Test for independent samples. p = 0.595 p = 0.014 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 GP GR GP GR Flow-Mediate Dilatation (%) Peripheral Vascular Resistance (mmHg/cm.s –1 ) ventricular hypertrophy in ~2.0%. Pelliccia (1999) examined 1,309 Italian elite athletes engaged in different sporting disciplines (soccer, n = 119; gymnastics, n = 87; rowing, n = 80; tennis, n = 64;basketball, n = 62; track and field, n = 59; alpine skiing, n = 59; shooting, n = 57; handball, n = 56; cycling, n = 49; water polo, n=43; ice hockey, n = 42; cross-country skiing, n = 41; canoeing, n = 39; rugby, n = 39; skating, n = 36; fencing, n= 35; yachting, n = 33; swimming, n = 29; equestrian sports, n = 24; karate, n = 24; volleyball, n = 21; bobsledding, n = 17; boxing, n = 15; wrestling, n = 14; judo, n = 13; luge, n = 13; field hockey, n = 13; table tennis, n=11; pentathlon, n = 7; weight‑lifting, n = 7; golfing, n = 6; baseball, n=5; triathlon, n = 3; motor‑racing, n = 3; body-building, n=3; other modalities n = 72) and found interventricular septum thickness > 13 mm in 1.1% of them. Moreover, they also found that 45% and 14% of the athletes studied exhibited end-diastolic dimension > 55 mm and > 60 mm, respectively. Thus, if we use these cutoffs, despite some anatomical cardiac changes, none of the study participants showed cardiac dimensions consistent with pathological hypertrophy. However, it is important to note a strong correlation between weight loads lifted in the squat and total load and cardiac dimensions including septum thickness, posterior wall thickness, and LV mass. Yet again, a possible explanation is that powerlifting involves a great amount of slow-speed contractions using high loads close to the maximum leading to a pressure overload. 9-17 With regard to LV mass, Gardin et al., 18 reported values of 225 g and 115 g/m² adjusted by BSA in individuals chronically exposed to pressure overload. LV mass was also measured in our study and we found values of 282 g and 135 g/m 2, among powerlifters. Interestingly, runners also showed high LV mass (236 g and 128 g/m 2 adjusted by BSA). Regardless of the training modality, cardiac remodeling occurred in response to exercise training in both groups. Though still controversial, echocardiographic measurements indexed to BSA allow to Table 5 – Pearson linear correlation coefficients between training parameters and echocardiographic /cardiopulmonary variables (PG = 16) Total load (kg) Duration of strength training (years) Weekly duration of training (days) Daily duration of training (min/day) Interventricular septum thickness (mm) 0.733 † 0.411 0.286 0.212 Posterior ventricular wall thickness (mm) 0.680 † 0.365 0.274 0.225 LV mass (g) 0.689 † 0.407 0.213 0.248 Resting heart rate (bpm) 0.706 † 0.505 –0.149 0.201 Baseline SBP (mmHg) 0.029 0.377 0.258 0.453 Baseline DBP (mmHg) 0.490 0.762 † 0.581* 0.151 VO 2 max (mL.kg -1 .min -1 ) –0.459 –0.093 0.048 0.135 VCO 2 max (mL.kg -1 .min -1 ) –0.623* –0.133 –0.051 –0.022 PG: powerlifters group; 1-RM: one-repetition maximum test; LV: left ventricle, SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; VO 2 : oxygen uptake; VCO 2 : carbon dioxide production. Significance level † p < 0.001 and * p < 0.05. 777