Exercise stresses the pulmonary circulation through increases in cardiac output and left atrial pressure. Invasive as well as non-invasive studies in healthy volunteers show that the slope of mean pulmonary artery pressure-flow relationships ranges from 0.5 to 3 mmHg.L.min-1. The upper limit of normal of mean pulmonary artery pressure at ...

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is characterized as a clinical disorder displaying exercise intolerance; patients typically complain of early muscular fatigue. Previously, it was thought to be simply a failure of perfusion to the exercising musculature and consequent early onset of intramuscular acidosis in CHF. However, improved hemodynamics by cardiotonic agents ...

BackgroundHeart rate recovery (HRR) is becoming an important prognostic maker in heart failure (HF), but very little is known about the underlying mechanisms responsible for its clinical efficacy. Therefore, we examined echocardiographic and exercise (submaximal and maximal) characteristics to gain a better appreciation of HRR and factors responsible for the ...

BACKGROUND: Resting echocardiographic measures of cardiac function such as left ventricular ejection fraction correlate poorly with exercise capacity. Assessment during exercise using measures less dependent on hemodynamic loading conditions, such as tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), may more accurately characterize the relationship between cardiac function and exercise capacity. METHODS AND RESULTS: ...

BACKGROUND: - To use cardiovascular magnetic resonance to investigate left ventricular (LV) wall thickness and the presence of asymmetric hypertrophy in young army recruits before and after a period of intense exercise training. METHODS AND RESULTS: - Using cardiovascular magnetic resonance the left ventricular wall thickness was measured in all ...

AIMS: Previous studies have shown distinct models of cardiac adaptations to the training in master athletes and different effects of endurance and strength-training on cardiovascular function. We attempted to assess left-ventricular (LV) function, aortic (Ao) function, and right-ventricular (RV) function in athletes with different forms of training by using three-dimensional ...

Controversy surrounds the cardiac effects of competitive sports and the athlete's heart. In this review, we present and discuss the main cardiological findings in competitive athletes. Selective review of pertinent literature retrieved by a search with the keywords "athlete's heart," "ECG," "echocardiography," "endurance exercise," "longevity," and others. Regular exercise leads ...

INTRODUCTION: Atrial fibrillation affects almost 2% of the population in the Western world. To preserve sinus rhythm, ablation is undertaken in symptomatic patients. Observational studies show that patients with atrial fibrillation often report a low quality of life and are less prone to be physically active due to fear of ...

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of moderate continuous training (MCT) and high intensity aerobic interval training (AIT) on systolic ventricular function and aerobic capacity in COPD patients. Methods: Seventeen patients with COPD (64 ± 8 years, 12 men) with FEV(1) of 52.8 ± 11% ...

Cardiac dyspnea, especially if present only with exercise, is often confused with asthma and exercise-induced bronchospasm. Cardiac dyspnea or asthma is the consequence of pulmonary edema due to pulmonary venous hypertension and not due to asthmatic bronchoconstriction. In overt, acute congestive heart failure, the diagnosis may be readily made by ...

BACKGROUND: The consequences and risks of prolonged physical exercise are not well established. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of prolonged physical exercise on the participants of a 24-hour ultramarathon race. METHODS: Twenty male runners were selected for evaluation a day before and immediately after the race, where the athletes had ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding small RNAs representing one of the most exciting areas of modern medical science. miRNAs modulate a large and complex regulatory network of gene expression of the majority of the protein-coding genes. Currently, evidences suggest that miRNAs play a crucial role in the pathogenesis ...

Cardiac power output (CPO) is an integrative measure of overall cardiac function as it accounts for both, flow- and pressure-generating capacities of the heart. The purpose of the present study was twofold: (i) to assess cardiac power output and its response to exercise in athletes and non-athletes and (ii) to ...

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular (LV) systole and diastole are intimately dependent on myocardial torsion, which involves coupling between myocardial rotation (twisting in systole and untwisting in diastole) and longitudinal motion. Heart failure with normal ejection fraction (HFNEF) is known to involve exercise-induced wall motion abnormalities, but torsion on exercise has not ...

The aim of this study was to analyze using noninvasive cardiac examinations a series of young athletes discovered to have ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) during the preparticipation screening program for competitive sports. One hundred forty-five athletes (mean age 17 ± 5 years) were evaluated. The study protocol included electrocardiography (ECG), exercise ...

ABSTRACT Objectives: To investigate the mechanisms of losartan- and exercise training-induced improvements on endothelial dysfunction in heart failure. Design: Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to left coronary artery ligation inducing myocardial infarction and heart failure were randomized to losartan treatment, high-intensity exercise training, or both. Results: Losartan, but not exercise training, reduced ...

The purpose of this study was to compare an Exercise Training Group (EX) with an Attention-Control Group (AT-C) to more specifically assess the impact of exercise training on individuals with heart failure (HF). Forty-two individuals with HF were randomized to AT-C or EX that met with the same frequency and ...

BACKGROUND: This systematic review sought to evaluate critically the health benefits of physical activity among persons with atrial fibrillation (AF). AF is increasing in Western society. While health benefits of physical activity are well established, benefits of physical activity among individuals with AF are not clearly identified. METHODS: Literature was ...

Background: Heart transplant recipients have lower exercise capacity and impaired cardiac function compared with the normal population. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) improves exercise capacity and cardiac function in patients with heart failure and hypertension, but the effect on cardiac function in stable heart transplant recipients is not known. Thus, we ...

OBJECTIVES: Heart failure (HF) patients with preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) (HFpEF) due to systemic hypertension (SHT) are known to have limited exercise tolerance. Despite having normal EF at rest, we hypothesize that these patients have abnormal systolic function reserve limiting their exercise capacity. METHODS: Seventeen patients with ...

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) with intraventricular septum thickness (IVST) between 1.2 and 1.5 cm in athletes represents a "gray zone" between physiologic adaptation and mild hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Various echo and laboratory parameters have been reported till now in the literature to discriminate the "gray zone" entities. Aim of this study ...

Background: Although it has been demonstrated that cardiac remodeling and exercise capacity improve after transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect (ASD), little is known about long-term benefits in middle-aged and elderly patients with a reduction in cardiopulmonary function. Objectives: To evaluate long-term extent and time course of improvements in cardiac ...

BACKGROUND: Subjects with Fontan-type circulation have no sub-pulmonary ventricle and thus depend exquisitely on the respiratory bellows and peripheral muscle pump for cardiac filling. We hypothesised that resistance training to augment the peripheral muscle pump might improve cardiac filling, reduce inspiratory-dependence of IVC return to the heart and thus improve ...

: Although pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic heart failure (CHF) lead to exercise limitation, their pathophysiology is different. Our objective was to evaluate, using right heart catheterization and cardiopulmonary exercise testing, the difference in hemodynamic parameters and exercise capacity between PAH and CHF, which have the same subjective symptoms. ...

Athletic performance tests the limits of the human body and mind. Awe-inspiring achievements is what makes sports so fascinating. It is well appreciated however that top-level sports may sometimes overtax the body, and can lead to injuries, most notably of musculo-skeletal nature. This paper defends the thesis that the heart ...

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms of reduced angina on second exertion in patients with coronary arterial disease, also known as the warm-up angina phenomenon, are poorly understood. Adaptations within the coronary and systemic circulations have been suggested but never demonstrated in vivo. In this study we measured central and coronary hemodynamics during ...

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), particularly maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2)max), has been used to assess the outcome for patients with palliated congenital heart disease (CHD). Small studies correlating VO(2)max with noninvasive imaging measures of ventricular function have led to the hypothesis that VO(2)max reflects cardiac performance. In other settings, physical training ...

We have previously reported chronic low-intensity interval exercise training attenuates fibrosis, impaired cardiac mitochondrial function, and coronary vascular dysfunction in miniature swine with LV hypertrophy. The purpose of this study was to test two hypotheses: 1) chronic low-intensity interval training preserves normal myocardial oxygen supply/demand balance; and 2) training-dependent attenuation ...

AimWhether Tai Chi (TC) is effective in the cardiac rehabilitation of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) remains controversial. We performed a meta-analysis to examine the effects of TC on exercise capacity and quality of life (QoL) in CHF patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched (up ...

The American Heart Association has identified adherence as an integral component of heart failure self-care. Unfortunately, adherence to medication, diet, and exercise regimens historically has been poor. This review discusses relevant literature related to poor adherence in several therapeutic domains, including factors contributing to poor adherence, interventions designed to improve ...

The aim of this study was to compare the acute hemodynamic responses during high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) session compared with moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) session in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFREF). Thirteen patients with HFREF (age, 59 ± 6 years; left ventricular ejection fraction, 27% ± ...

β1-adrenergic receptors (ADRB1) and Gαs proteins (GNAS) play important roles in the regulation of cardiac function. The present study sought to investigate whether ADRB1 Arg389Gly (rs1801253), GNAS -1211 G/A (rs6123837) and GNAS 2291 C/T (rs6026584) variants are associated with left ventricular function and exercise tolerance in heart failure patients. 61 ...

Physiologic endurance exercise performance is primarily limited by cardiac function. In patients with heart failure, there is dissociation between cardiac performance and exercise capacity, suggesting a distinct role of abnormal peripheral organ function, including skeletal muscle function. The impact of heart failure upon skeletal muscle and exercise performance will be ...

: Training induces volume- and time-dependent morphological and functional changes in the heart. Heart rhythm disorders, such as atrial arrhythmia (including atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter), are a well-established consequence of such long-term endurance practice. Although resting bradycardia and first-degree atrioventricular persist in veteran athletes, a higher conduction system impairment ...

Irregular breathing characterized by cyclic variation of ventilation with a period of approximately 1 min has been recognized in patients with heart failure for almost two centuries. Periodic breathing during exercise is a noninvasive parameter that is easily recognizable during submaximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Recent studies have established that periodic ...

Most patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) usually complain of a reduced exercise capacity, and several factors have been advocated as possible causes of this clinical feature. The present single-center study was designed to investigate exercise capacity and its main clinical determinants in HCM patients. One hundred ninety seven patients of ...

The effect of exercise training on myocardial Na(+)/H(+) exchanger-1 (NHE1) protein expression was examined. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sedentary (S; n = 8) and exercised (E; n = 9) groups. Twenty-four hours after the last exercise bout, hearts were weighed and connected to an isolated perfused working heart apparatus for ...

CPVT is a lethal ventricular arrhythmia evoked by physical or emotional stress. Recessively inherited CPVT is caused by either missense or null-allele mutations in the cardiac calsequestrin (CASQ2) gene. It was suggested that defects in CASQ2 cause protein deficiency, impair Ca(2+) uptake to the sarcoplasmic reticulum and Ca(2+)-dependent inhibition of ...

AIMS: This study tested the hypothesis that left ventricular (LV) contractile reserve is altered in patients after arterial switch operation (ASO) for complete transposition of the great arteries (TGA) by non-invasive determination of LV force-frequency relationship (FFR). METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-two patients aged 16.2 ± 2.1 years and 22 healthy ...

Modern cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in chronic heart failure (CHF) is a multidisciplinary process with the patient being the centre of the focus. Various CR models (inpatient, outpatient and home based) have been used the last two decades in the pursuit of higher effectiveness and better results. The aim of this ...

The burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) is escalating even though it is potentially modifiable. Affected persons, at high risk of stroke and death, are typically not targeted for risk reduction. We aimed to determine if risk-factor interventions can improve physical functioning, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and cardiovascular risk in ...

Physical activity (PA) is essential for successful aging and for the prevention and management of common chronic diseases. The empirical support for the beneficial effects of PA on vasomotor symptoms has, however, been mixed. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of acute aerobic exercise and daily ...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare cardiopulmonary responses, exercise adherence, tolerance, and safety of optimized high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) compared with moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFREF). METHODS: Twenty patients with HFREF (aged 61 ± 9.9 years) were randomly ...

This study investigated the effect of a very long-term exercise training program is not known in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. We previously showed that long-term moderate exercise training (ET) improves functional capacity and quality of life in New York Heart Association class II and III CHF patients. We studied ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the vasodilatory and vasoconstrictor responses of the brachial artery in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and controls (CON) before and after a period of training and detraining. METHODS: CHF (n = 10; age = 62 ± 8 yrs) and CON (n = 10; age = 55 ± 5 yrs) subjects completed 4 weeks of bilateral ...

BACKGROUND: In congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (cc-TGA), the morphologic right ventricle acts as the subaortic (systemic) ventricle, and deterioration of the ventricle over time is a well-known complication. The objective of this study was to characterize the right ventricle and explore factors that may be contributing to ...

©2012 Wiley Periodicals, inc. Exercise training appears to improve peak oxygen consumption (VO(2) ) and quality of life (QOL) in heart failure patients, although disease etiology, patient demographics and medication may alter the rate of adaptation. The authors sought to identify rate of change from baseline in fitness, QOL, and ...

Objective: Atrial fibrillation diminishes cardiac function, exercise tolerance and quality of life. The objective of this study was to determine whether exercise training in atrial fibrillation affects muscle strength, body composition, maximal exercise capacity and walking capacity positively, thus improving quality of life. Design: Randomized clinical trial. Twelve weeks of ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: At-rest echocardiography is a poor predictor of exercise capacity in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We aimed to test the performance of treadmill exercise Doppler echocardiography in the prediction of functional limitations in these patients. METHODS: Eighty-seven consecutive patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy underwent treadmill exercise echocardiography with direct ...

Patients with moderate-severe aortic stenosis (AS) who maintain that they have no symptoms pose a decision-making dilemma. In order to determine whether or not preoperative symptoms were related to outcomes in these patients, results were compared after aortic valve replacement (AVR) in asymptomatic and symptomatic AS patients with a preserved ...