ABSTRACT
Objectives: This work was aimed at investigating, by means of ultrasonography, the influence of training altitudes on haemodynamic parameters of the right heart and the impact of these parameters on the performances of runners participating in endurance races. Experimental Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of the Study: The study was carried out in Cameroon. Echocardiographic parameters were recorded at the Regional Hospital annex of Buea (Cameroon) on the 12th and 13th February while race times were recorded at Molyko Stadium of Buea, on the 15th February 2014. Methodology: Out of 241 runners who finished the senior Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, 68 who were at least at their second participation, had voluntarily participated in the study. Right heart parameters such as the Mid Right Ventricle Diameter (MRVD), the right ventricle Base-To-Apex Length (BAL), the Right Wall Motion (RWM), the Free Wall Thickness (FWT), the tricuspid annular plan systolic excursion (TAPSE) were collected through 2D transthoracic ultrasonography. Mann-Withney or Kruskal-Wallis tests and Spearman’s correlation were used for statistical analysis. The significance level was set at p-value<0.05. Results: Performances improved with the increasing number of participation in the race. From all the above echocardiographic parameters only the values of TAPSE were significantly different (p=0.035), with respect to genders (1.8±0.3 vs. 1.6±0.3 cm/m2, for males and females respectively). The Spearman’s correlation analysis did not show any relationship between training altitude and MRVD (r=-0.19; p=0.19), TAPSE (r=0.14; p=0.35) or FWT (r=-0.04; p=0.77). However, there was a correlation, although weak, between training altitude and BAL (r=-0.33; p=0.02). BAL decreased as training altitude was getting higher. None of these haemodynamic parameters seemed to impact the performances of runners. Conclusion: The training altitudes can impact right ventricle BAL, but not TAPSE and the latter is affected by gender. However, these parameters seem not to impact the performances of high altitude endurance runners.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: This work was aimed at investigating, by means of ultrasonography, the impact of cardiovascular parameters on the physical endurance of runners participating in high altitude race. Experimental Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of the Study: The study was carried out in Cameroon. Anthropometric and cardiovascular parameters were recorded at the Regional Hospital annex of Buea (Cameroon) on the 12th and 13th February while race times were recorded at Molyko Stadium of Buea, on the 15th February 2014. Methodology: Out of 241 runners who finished the senior Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, 69 who were at least at their second participation, had voluntarily participated in the study. Haemodynamic parameters were collected through 2D transthoracic ultrasonography. Mann-Withney or Kruskal-Wallis tests and linear regression were used for statistical analysis. The significance level was set at p-value<0.05. Results: The mean LVEDD, LVDV, LVSV, LVMMI, SF/EF and TAPSE were 2.7±0.3 cm/m2, 88.5±49.3 mL/m2, 53.4±30.7 mL/m2, 131.1±28.6 g/m2, 69.3±9.4% and 1.7±0.3 cm/m2 respectively. In males and females, LVDV (mL/m2) was 98.6±55.3 vs. 64.2±12.6 (p=0.011) while LVSV (mL/m2) was 61.6±33.2 vs. 33.9±6.2 (p=0.0004), respectively. The linear regression model revealed that the lower the altitude, the greater the race time i.e. the weaker the performance (p=0.005; r2=0.12). In addition increase of LVDV related with increase of residential (p=0.025; r2=0.12) and training (p=0.021; r2=0.13) altitudes. Conclusion: Optimal values of haemodynamic parameters and/or high training altitude could be boosters of performance in endurance race at high altitude.