Impact of high-intensity endurance exercise on regional left and right ventricular myocardial mechanics

Aims Strenuous endurance exercise acutely increases myocardial wall stress and evokes transient functional cardiac perturbations. However, it is unclear whether exercise-induced functional cardiac disturbances are ubiquitous throughout the myocardium or are segment specific. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of high-intensity endurance exercise on global and segmental left (LV) and right (RV) ventricular tissue deformation (strain).Methods and results Echocardiography was used to measure strain in 23 active men (age: 28 +/- 2 years; VO2 peak: 4.5 +/- 0.7 L min(-1)) at rest and during a standardized low-intensity exercise challenge, before and after a 90-min high-intensity endurance cycling intervention. Following the cycling intervention, LV and RV global strain decreased at rest (LV: -18.4 +/- 0.4% vs. -17.7 +/- 0.4%,