Long-term endurance training does not prevent the age-related decrease in left ventricular relaxation properties

Aim: Diastolic filling dynamics in the long-term endurance trained elderly has previously been examined by transmitral flow velocity, which has been shown to be preload dependant. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of long-term endurance training on left ventricular (LV) relaxation in older individuals by using pulsed tissue Doppler imaging. Methods: Fourteen master athletes with a history of intensive long-term endurance training, 14 aged-matched sedentary controls and 15 young adult men underwent standard Doppler echocardiography and pulsed Doppler tissue imaging, performed in four-chambers apical view, by placing a sample volume at the level of the mitral annulus. Results: Stroke volume was significantly higher and heart rate lower in master athletes compared with aged-matched sedentary subjects. Transmitral Peak E velocity and ratio E/A were significantly higher in master athletes, but did not reach the values of young men. Peak LV wall motion during the early filling phase, an index of LV relaxation, were significantly higher in young men than in both groups of older individuals. However, similar values were obtained between master athletes and sedentary counterparts. Conclusions: Our data provide evidence that long-term training does not reduce the age-related decline in LV relaxation properties in humans. This finding implies that other mechanisms, such as increased LV filling pressures due to expanded blood volume, are probably responsible for the higher contribution of early diastolic filling to LV filling in master athletes compared with their sedentary counterparts. However this hypothesis needs to be confirmed.