Table 3.
Echocardiographic characteristics of elite male and female strength athletes and non-elite controls in the 2-min sit-up exercise.
| Male athletes (N = 580) | Female athletes (N = 79) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elite | Non-elite controls | P-value | Elite | Non-elite controls | P-value | ||
| (≥51 numbers) | (<51 numbers) | (≥50 numbers) | (<50 numbers) | ||||
| (N = 93) | (N = 487) | (N = 14) | (N = 65) | ||||
| Aortic valve open (mm), PLAX | 20.53 ± 1.72 | 20.35 ± 1.85 | 0.38 | 19.93 ± 2.05 | 18.66 ± 1.81 | 0.02 | |
| Aortic root dimension (mm), PALX | 30.09 ± 2.45 | 29.83 ± 2.74 | 0.39 | 30.21 ± 3.70 | 26.92 ± 2.52 | <0.001 | |
| LV posterior wall (mm), PLAX | 8.41 ± 0.82 | 8.29 ± 0.83 | 0.20 | 7.07 ± 0.82 | 7.11 ± 0.75 | 0.83 | |
| LV internal dimension in diastole (mm), PLAX | 49.60 ± 3.37 | 49.07 ± 3.48 | 0.17 | 44.64 ± 3.02 | 44.52 ± 2.88 | 0.88 | |
| LV internal dimension in systole (mm), PLAX | 31.38 ± 3.08 | 30.37 ± 3.22 | 0.006 | 30.86 ± 3.67 | 28.12 ± 2.84 | 0.003 | |
| Interventricular septum, (mm), PLAX | 8.55 ± 0.80 | 8.48 ± 0.89 | 0.52 | 7.29 ± 0.99 | 7.28 ± 0.78 | 0.97 | |
| RV wall thickness (mm), PLAX | 4.65 ± 0.63 | 4.69 ± 0.59 | 0.54 | 4.49 ± 0.73 | 4.33 ± 0.45 | 0.30 | |
| RV outflow tract dimension in diastole (mm), PLAX | 26.47 ± 3.72 | 26.30 ± 3.99 | 0.70 | 28.50 ± 4.04 | 25.72 ± 3.46 | 0.01 | |
| Left atrial dimension (mm), PLAX | 32.97 ± 3.34 | 32.83 ± 4.00 | 0.74 | 33.21 ± 3.74 | 30.98 ± 4.94 | 0.11 | |
| LV mass (gm) | 148.64 ± 24.01 | 144.35 ± 27.16 | 0.15 | 100.87 ± 21.93 | 100.40 ± 18.84 | 0.93 | |
| LV mass index (gm/m2) | 80.93 ± 11.73 | 77.52 ± 12.00 | 0.01 | 61.11 ± 9.19 | 61.65 ± 9.28 | 0.84 | |
| LV hypertrophy | 1 [1.1] | 5 [1.0] | 0.96 | 0 [0.0] | 2 [3.1] | 0.50 | |
| RV hypertrophy | 2 [2.2] | 26 [5.3] | 0.18 | 2 [14.3] | 2 [3.1] | 0.08 | |
| LV ejection fraction (%), PLAX | 62.52 ± 5.36 | 62.50 ± 5.32 | 0.97 | 63.43 ± 5.68 | 61.20 ± 4.91 | 0.13 | |
| Tricuspid valve prolapse, PSAX | 19 [51.4] | 89 [49.7] | 0.85 | 1 [20.0] | 12 [63.2] | 0.08 | |
| Aortic regurgitation ≥ mild grade | 1 [1.1] | 3 [0.6] | 0.62 | 2 [14.3] | 2 [3.1] | 0.08 | |
| Mitral regurgitation ≥ mild grade | 82 [88.2] | 419 [86.0] | 0.58 | 13 [92.9] | 56 [86.2] | 0.49 | |
| Pulmonary regurgitation ≥ mild grade | 71 [76.3] | 346 [71.0] | 0.29 | 11 [78.6] | 49 [75.4] | 0.80 | |
| Tricuspid regurgitation ≥ mild grade | 87 [93.5] | 451 [92.6] | 0.74 | 14 [100.0] | 60 [92.3] | 0.28 | |
| RV systolic pressure (mmHg) | 29.53 ± 4.15 | 27.80 ± 3.73 | <0.001 | 28.21 ± 3.19 | 27.49 ± 3.75 | 0.50 | |
| Mitral inflow power Doppler E-wave (m/s) | 89.64 ± 14.62 | 87.32 ± 14.45 | 0.15 | 94.35 ± 10.49 | 96.75 ± 13.75 | 0.54 | |
| Mitral inflow power Doppler A-wave (m/s) | 49.25 ± 9.10 | 49.25 ± 9.95 | 0.99 | 47.67 ± 8.32 | 50.85 ± 10.43 | 0.29 | |
| E/A ratio | 1.88 ± 0.49 | 1.84 ± 0.47 | 0.41 | 2.03 ± 0.44 | 1.98 ± 0.50 | 0.68 | |
| Mitral lateral annulus tissue Doppler E' (cm/s) | 18.89 ± 4.21 | 18.20 ± 4.04 | 0.13 | 19.75 ± 3.40 | 18.88 ± 3.90 | 0.44 | |
| Mitral lateral annulus tissue Doppler A' (cm/s) | 8.50 ± 1.90 | 9.33 ± 4.99 | 0.11 | 9.52 ± 2.75 | 8.92 ± 2.19 | 0.37 | |
| E'/A' ratio | 2.32 ± 0.70 | 2.11 ± 0.71 | 0.01 | 2.23 ± 0.80 | 2.23 ± 0.68 | 0.97 | |
Continuous variables are expressed as mean ± SD (standard deviation), and categorical variables as N [%].
LV, left ventricle; RV, right ventricle;PLAX, echocardiographic parasternal long axis view; PSAX, echocardiographic parasternal short axis view.