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INTRODUCTION: There is an ongoing debate about the impact of endurance exercise on cardiovascular health. Not at least data on cardiac biomarker changes (e.g. troponin T (cTnT), N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac specific myosin heavy chain-alpha (MHC-α) have raised questions about exercise related cardiac injury. METHODS: In 52 non-elite athletes (14 female, 38 male; age 41.1 ± 9.7, range 24-70 years; all completed the race) biomarkers were measured by standard laboratory methods 7 days before, directly after, and day 1, 4 and 6 after a full Ironman distance triathlon (Swim 3.9 km, Bike 180 km, Run 42.2 km) . In 19 of these athletes (9 female, 10 male) echocardiography with 30 different standard measurements was performed before and directly after the race. RESULTS: Only MHC-α [µg/L] showed a two-peaked increase directly after (2.57 ± 0.78) and on day 4 (2.74 ± 0.55). Other biomarkers showed a one-peaked increase with maximal values either directly after the race or at day 1: cTnT 76 ± 80 ng/L (12-440; reference <15), NT-proBNP 776 ± 684 ng/L (92-4700; ref. < 300), CK 68 ± 55 µkat/L (5-280; ref. < 1.9), MG 2088 ± 2350 µg/L (130-17000; ref.< 72), and creatinine 100 ± 20 µmol/L (74-161; ref. < 100), CRP 49 ± 23 mg/L (15-119; ref.< 5). No significant echocardiographic changes were recorded. E.g. left ventricular end diastolic diameter (49.0 ± 4.7 mm before, 47.7 ± 5.0 mm after the race, right ventricular end diastolic diameter (34.3 ± 4.3 mm before, 33.3 ± 5.7 mm after the race), right atrial area (17.5 ± 2.9 cm2 before, 17.7 ± 3.6 cm2 after the race) and left atrial area (18.8 ± 3.7 cm2 before, 17.8 ± 2.2 cm2 after the race) did not show any significant acute changes. CONCLUSION: While an Ironman leads to remarkable disturbances in biomarkers as e.g. cTnT after the race was in the range of myocardial infarction in 100% of women and 97% of men, these alterations were not correlated to any acute echocardiographi

Biochemical changes after strenuous exercise - data from the Kalmar Ironman Strenuous and prolonged exercise like marathon, ultra running and triathlon can lead to changes in biomarkers of cardiac, muscle and kidney functional damage. We present the data of 30 (15 men, 15 women) participants of the Kalmar Ironman 2015. Pre-race electrocardiograms and echocardiograms showed a high frequency of abnormalities. Post race elevations of troponin T, creatine kinase, myoglobin, N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide, and creatinine returned to normal in almost all cases within 5-8 days. In all but one participant the troponin T pattern was compatible with the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. It is an up-to-date unanswered question whether the increase of troponin represents myocardial damage or just is a benign consequence of an intermittent change of the permeability of myocardial cell membranes., Intensiv uthållighetsidrott som maratonlöpning och triatlon påverkar alla organsystem, och akuta förändringar har visats inte minst för hjärt- och njurfunktion. Vi rapporterar data från 30 deltagare i Kalmar Ironman (15 män, 15 kvinnor) som undersökts med EKG, ekokardiografi och blodprov. Akuta stegringar av hjärt-, muskel- och njurvärden var mycket vanliga. Samtliga deltagare förutom en uppvisade direkt efter tävlingen troponin T-värden som skulle vara förenliga med diagnosen hjärtinfarkt. Det är oklart om troponinläckaget står för en hjärtmuskelskada eller om det är en godartad konsekvens av en tillfällig ändring av permeabiliteten av hjärtmuskelcellerna.