Club 35 Poster session 3: Friday 5 December 2014, 08:30-18:00 * Location: Poster area

Data on deformation profile of athlete's heart are still scarce. However, strain values of athletes can reveal several correspondence between training and systolic or diastolic function and can deepen our understanding of their cardiac physiology. We sought to investigate the left ventricular (LV) longitudinal and circumferential deformation parameters in a large cohort of athletes and to determine the related factors.  Elite athletes (EA; n=147, mean age 26±6 years, 20% women) competing in sport disciplines of combined exercise nature, were investigated and compared to age- and gender matched, healthy, sedentary volunteers (NC; n=44, 27±8 years, 25% women). Beyond standard two-dimensional echocardiographic protocol (Philips iE33), parasternal short-axis and apical views optimized for speckle tracking analysis were obtained. LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) and global circumferential strain (GCS) were calculated by averaging the values of the standard 16 LV segments. Data are presented as mean±SD, p values under 0.05 were considered as statistically significant.  EA had increased LV mass (EA vs. NC; 113±22 vs. 95±30 g/m2, p<0.01). Ejection fraction did not differ between groups (59.6±6.3 vs. 60.5±4.5 %). GLS of athletes was significantly lower (-21.5±2.3 vs. -22.9±2.9 %, p<0.01), while GCS was similar compared to controls (-29.7±4.8 vs. -29.9±4.9 %). Strain values did not differ between genders (EA group, females vs. males; GLS: -22.2±1.6 vs. -21.3±2.4; GCS -29.9±5.1 vs. -29.7±4.7 %). In contrast to NC, in the EA group GLS correlated with age (r=-0.29), weight (r=0.36), height (r=0.41) and also with early diastolic mitral inflow velocity (r=-0.28) and isovolumic relaxation time (r=0.31, p<0.05). In athletes, GCS inversely correlated with LV mass (r=0.38) and was found to be the only independent predictor of ejection fraction among strain parameters (β=-0.31, p<0.01).  LV longitudinal strain is decreased, circumferential strain is preserved in elite athletes, which might have a key role in maintaining ejection fraction at resting conditions. LV longitudinal strain is related to anthropometric features and early diastolic function, whereas circumferential strain is affected by LV mass. Our results can represent reference values for athlete's heart using the current platform.