Relationship between left ventricular structure and post-exercise blood pressure in endurance athletes

Background The association between arterial blood pressure (BP) response to different exercise stimulus and left ventricular (LV) size in various populations remains elusive. Objective The objective of the study was to evaluate the relationship between BP response to strength exercise and LV size in endurance athletes. Methods 205 healthy young adult Caucasian males were enrolled in this study and divided into two groups: sedentary controls (n = 143) and endurance athletes (n = 62). All subjects performed an exercise test that comprised a set of pull-ups performed till exhaustion. BP was evaluated at rest and at the first minute of post-exercise recovery. Cardiac size dimensions were determined on standard two-dimensional M-mode echocardiography. Results Size-adjusted cardiac dimensions were significantly greater in the athletes than in the control subjects (P < 0.001). Athletes achieved significantly higher systolic BP after pull-ups than control subjects (P < 0.01), whereas systolic BP at rest was similar between the groups (P > 0.05). In the athletes, post-exercise systolic BP correlated more strongly to interventricular septum thickness (r = 0.297, P = 0.021), LV posterior wall thickness (r = 0.318, P = 0.013) and LV relative wall thickness (r = 0.361, P = 0.005) than in the control subjects (r = 0.163, P = 0.064; r = 0.183, P = 0.038 and r = 0.266, P = 0.002, respectively). These associations retained significance after adjusting for body surface area and systolic BP at rest. Conclusions Thicker LV walls and more marked systolic blood pressure response to strength exercise in endurance athletes were directly inter-correlated, and though somewhat weaker, direct association between systolic blood pressure response to LV wall thickness in sedentary control subjects was also observed.