Left Ventricular Dimensions and Diastolic Function Are Different in Throwers, Endurance Athletes, and Sprinters From the World Masters Athletics Championships

There is controversy whether a lifetime of heavy resistance training, providing pressure-overload, is harmful for left ventricular function. We compared left ventricular dimensions and function in elite Masters athletes involved in throwing events (requiring strength; n = 21, seven females, 60 +/- 14 years) to those involved in endurance events (n = 65, 25 females, 59 +/- 10 years) and sprinting (n = 68, 21 females, 57 +/- 13 years) at the 2018 World Masters Athletic Championships. Left ventricular dimensions and function were assessed with B-mode ultrasound and Doppler. The ratio of left ventricular early diastolic peak filling velocity to peak velocity during atrial contraction (E/A) across the mitral valve and the ratio of E to velocity of the E-wave (E') across the lateral and septal mitral annulus (E/E') were used as indexes of left ventricular diastolic function. Intra-ventricular septal wall thickness was greater in throwers compared to sprinters (11.9 +/- 2.2 vs. 10.3 +/- 2.3 mm; p = 0.01). Left ventricular end diastolic diameter/body surface area was higher in endurance athletes and sprinters vs. throwers (25.2 +/- 3.0, 24.3 +/- 3.1, and 22.0 +/- 3.1 mm/m(2), respectively, p 1,000; E/A = 1.06; E/E' = 7.5), left ventricular diastolic function was not different in throwers, but superior in endurance athletes and sprinters (p < 0.01). Masters throwers have altered left ventricular dimensions and function vs. other athletes, but a lifetime of heavy resistance training does not appear to alter left ventricular function compared to age-matched controls