Abstract
Background: We sought to investigate left atrial (LA) volume, function, and strain in elite athletes by a meta-analysis including echocardiographic studies that provided volumetric and strain analysis of LA phasic function. Methods: The OVID-MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases were searched for English-language articles without time restriction up to February 2018 through focused and high sensitive search strategies. Studies were identified by crossing the following search terms: “athletes,” “left atrial size,” “left atrial volume,” “atrial function,” “atrial strain,” “atrial strain rate,” “echocardiography,” “2D speckle echocardiography.”. Results: Meta-analysis included 403 athletes and 314 active but not trained healthy controls from 9 studies. Pooled data showed that average LA volume index was higher in athletes than in healthy controls (28.0 ± 1.0 vs 20.7 ± 0.8 mL/m 2 , P < 0.001). Global LA longitudinal strain, showing LA reservoir function, was lower in the athletes than in healthy controls with borderline significance (37.0 ± 1.2 vs 38.3 ± 1.5%, P = 0.044). Late diastolic LA strain rate, resembling LA contractile function, was also lower in elite athletes than in control group (−1.56 ± 0.08 vs −1.74 ± 0.09 seconds −1, P = 0.007). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis shows that LA volume is higher, while LA reservoir and contractile functions are impaired in elite athletes during active training compared to untrained controls. Whether these changes persist during deconditioning periods remains to be determined. These alterations may be related to the higher risk of arrhythmias, in particular atrial fibrillation, reported among middle/old aged athletes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 579-587 |
| Journal | Clinical Cardiology |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 1 2019 |
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Keywords
- left atrium
- meta-analysis
- phasic function
- strain
- volume
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Cite this
Left atrial function in elite athletes : A meta-analysis of two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiographic studies. / Cuspidi, Cesare; Tadic, Marijana; Sala, Carla; Gherbesi, Elisa; Grassi, Guido; Mancia, Giuseppe.
In: Clinical Cardiology, Vol. 42, No. 5, 01.01.2019, p. 579-587.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Left atrial function in elite athletes
T2 - A meta-analysis of two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiographic studies
AU - Cuspidi, Cesare
AU - Tadic, Marijana
AU - Sala, Carla
AU - Gherbesi, Elisa
AU - Grassi, Guido
AU - Mancia, Giuseppe
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Background: We sought to investigate left atrial (LA) volume, function, and strain in elite athletes by a meta-analysis including echocardiographic studies that provided volumetric and strain analysis of LA phasic function. Methods: The OVID-MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases were searched for English-language articles without time restriction up to February 2018 through focused and high sensitive search strategies. Studies were identified by crossing the following search terms: “athletes,” “left atrial size,” “left atrial volume,” “atrial function,” “atrial strain,” “atrial strain rate,” “echocardiography,” “2D speckle echocardiography.”. Results: Meta-analysis included 403 athletes and 314 active but not trained healthy controls from 9 studies. Pooled data showed that average LA volume index was higher in athletes than in healthy controls (28.0 ± 1.0 vs 20.7 ± 0.8 mL/m 2 , P < 0.001). Global LA longitudinal strain, showing LA reservoir function, was lower in the athletes than in healthy controls with borderline significance (37.0 ± 1.2 vs 38.3 ± 1.5%, P = 0.044). Late diastolic LA strain rate, resembling LA contractile function, was also lower in elite athletes than in control group (−1.56 ± 0.08 vs −1.74 ± 0.09 seconds −1, P = 0.007). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis shows that LA volume is higher, while LA reservoir and contractile functions are impaired in elite athletes during active training compared to untrained controls. Whether these changes persist during deconditioning periods remains to be determined. These alterations may be related to the higher risk of arrhythmias, in particular atrial fibrillation, reported among middle/old aged athletes.
AB - Background: We sought to investigate left atrial (LA) volume, function, and strain in elite athletes by a meta-analysis including echocardiographic studies that provided volumetric and strain analysis of LA phasic function. Methods: The OVID-MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases were searched for English-language articles without time restriction up to February 2018 through focused and high sensitive search strategies. Studies were identified by crossing the following search terms: “athletes,” “left atrial size,” “left atrial volume,” “atrial function,” “atrial strain,” “atrial strain rate,” “echocardiography,” “2D speckle echocardiography.”. Results: Meta-analysis included 403 athletes and 314 active but not trained healthy controls from 9 studies. Pooled data showed that average LA volume index was higher in athletes than in healthy controls (28.0 ± 1.0 vs 20.7 ± 0.8 mL/m 2 , P < 0.001). Global LA longitudinal strain, showing LA reservoir function, was lower in the athletes than in healthy controls with borderline significance (37.0 ± 1.2 vs 38.3 ± 1.5%, P = 0.044). Late diastolic LA strain rate, resembling LA contractile function, was also lower in elite athletes than in control group (−1.56 ± 0.08 vs −1.74 ± 0.09 seconds −1, P = 0.007). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis shows that LA volume is higher, while LA reservoir and contractile functions are impaired in elite athletes during active training compared to untrained controls. Whether these changes persist during deconditioning periods remains to be determined. These alterations may be related to the higher risk of arrhythmias, in particular atrial fibrillation, reported among middle/old aged athletes.
KW - left atrium
KW - meta-analysis
KW - phasic function
KW - strain
KW - volume
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064034930&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85064034930&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/clc.23180
DO - 10.1002/clc.23180
M3 - Review article
C2 - 30907013
AN - SCOPUS:85064034930
VL - 42
SP - 579
EP - 587
JO - Clinical Cardiology
JF - Clinical Cardiology
SN - 0160-9289
IS - 5
ER -