Publications by authors named "Boraita A"
Objectives: The effects of acute physical exercise in patients with resistant hypertension remain largely unexplored compared with hypertensive patients in general. We assessed the short-term effects of acute moderate-intensity (MICE) and high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) on the clinic (BP) and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) of patients with resistant hypertension.
Methods: Using a crossover randomized controlled design, 10 participants (56 ± 7 years) with resistant hypertension performed three experimental sessions: MICE, HIIE, and control.
Introduction: Whether cardiac impairment can be fully discarded in McArdle disease-the paradigm of "exercise intolerance," caused by inherited deficiency of the skeletal muscle-specific glycogen phosphorylase isoform ("myophosphorylase")-remains to be determined.
Methods: Eight patients with McArdle disease and seven age/sex-matched controls performed a 15-min moderate, constant-load cycle-ergometer exercise bout followed by a maximal ramp test. Electrocardiographic and two-dimensional transthoracic (for cardiac dimension's assessment) and speckle tracking (for left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) assessments) echocardiographic evaluations were performed at baseline.
Purpose: Concerns on whether athletes--particularly older ones--are at an increased risk of pathological aortic dilation exist, and the prevalence of aortic calcifications in these individuals is unknown. We aimed to compare the dimensions, distensibility, and prevalence of calcifications in the thoracic aorta between former male professional cyclists (cases) and sex/age-matched controls.
Methods: We used a retrospective cohort design, where cases were former finishers of at least one Grand Tour (Tour de France, Giro d' Italia or Vuelta a España) and controls were untrained individuals with no previous sports history and free of cardiovascular risk.
Background: Data regarding cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) reference values in athletes have not been well determined yet. Using CMR normal reference values derived from the general population may be misleading in athletes and may have clinical implications.
Aims: To determine reference ventricular dimensions and function parameters and ratios by CMR in high performance athletes.
Purpose: This study aimed to compare the prevalence of myocardial fibrosis and coronary calcification in individuals who have performed very high levels of strenuous endurance exercise (SEE; former male professional cyclists) and sex/age-matched controls.
Methods: We used a retrospective cohort study design, where cases were former finishers of ≥1 Grand Tour (Tour de France, Giro d' Italia or Vuelta a España) and controls were untrained individuals free of cardiovascular risk. All participants underwent cardiac magnetic resonance and cardiac computer tomography in the same center during years 2020-2021 to detect myocardial fibrosis (late gadolinium enhancement) and to quantify coronary calcium, respectively.
Background: There is debate about the magnitude of geometrical remodeling [i.e., left ventricle (LV) cavity enlargement vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough the benefits of regular physical activity on cardiovascular health are well established, the effects of strenuous endurance exercise (SEE) have been a matter of debate since ancient times. In this article, we aim to provide a balanced overview of what is known about SEE and the heart-from epidemiological evidence to recent cardiac imaging findings. Lifelong SEE is overall cardioprotective, with endurance master athletes showing in fact a youthful heart.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We assessed the occurrence of rhythm alterations in elite athletes with suspected risk using Holter monitoring, and the association of Holter-determined rhythm alterations with echocardiographic findings.
Methods: A large cohort of Spanish elite athletes ( = 6,579, 34% female) underwent in-depth cardiological examination (including echocardiographic evaluation, and resting and exercise electrocardiogram [ECG]) between 01/02/1998 and 12/31/2018. Holter monitoring was performed in those reporting cardiovascular symptoms, with suspicion of cardiac structural abnormalities potentially associated with dangerous arrhythmias, or with resting/exercise ECG features prompting a closer examination.
Background: Controversy exists on the actual occurrence of exercise-induced cardiac fatigue (EICF) with ultraendurance exercise, as well as on whether factors such as age or training status might predispose to this condition. The present study aimed to assess the occurrence of EICF among recreational ultramarathon runners, as well as to determine potential predictive factors.
Methods: Nineteen male recreational runners (42 ± 12yrs) participated in a 55-km trial race at moderate altitude (1,800-2,500 m).
Introduction And Objectives: There are scarce data on left atrial (LA) enlargement and electrophysiological features in athletes.
Methods: Multicenter observational study in competitive athletes and controls. LA enlargement was defined as LA volume indexed to body surface area ≥ 34mL/m.
Background: Incomplete right bundle branch block (IRBBB) is prevalent among athletes, but its etiology remains to be clearly elucidated and the commonly advocated mechanism, an intraventricular conduction delay, does not explain all cases. In the general population, an apparently similar phenomenon but with different pathophysiology and potential consequences, "crista supraventricularis pattern" (CSP, defined as QRS ≤ 100 ms, S wave <40 ms in I or V6 together with an RSR´ pattern in lead-V1) has been described. Yet, this manifestation has not been studied in athletes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present here three different clinical scenarios that illustrate the complexity of taking decisions in sports cardiology. Despite the availability of consensus documents, in clinical practice, decision-making process is most of the times in the grey zone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The authors previously observed that some high-performance athletes, irrespective of type of sport, can show echocardiographically determined low left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEF; <52%) together with normal heart rates and nondilated left ventricular (LV) cavities under resting conditions. The aim of this study was to determine if this phenomenon is associated with dyssynchronous motion of the interventricular septum relative to the lateral LV wall.
Methods: Results of M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography and pulsed-wave, pulsed-wave tissue, and color tissue Doppler were compared in 70 athletes (mean age, 20 ± 7 years; 77% men) with low LVEFs (<52%) participating in a wide variety of sports and a control group of 564 athletes (mean age, 22 ± 7 years; 61% men) with normal LVEFs (≥52%).
Aims: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) among elite athletes and to analyse the effect of long-term exercise training on their aortas.
Methods And Results: Consecutive BAV and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) elite athletes from a population of 5136 athletes evaluated at the Sports Medicine Center of the Spanish National Sports Council were identified using echocardiography. A total of 41 BAV elite athletes were matched with 41 TAV elite athletes, and 41 BAV non-athletic patients from three Spanish tertiary hospitals.
Importance: Vigorous exercise (particularly endurance sports) might increase the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), but there is variability in the reported frequency of this condition among elite athletes. The underlying pathophysiologic source remains unclear.
Objective: To determine AF incidence in a large cohort of elite athletes and its association with potential risk factors.
Background: There is limited information regarding the aortic root upper physiological limits in all planes in elite athletes according to static and dynamic cardiovascular demands and sex.
Methods And Results: A cross-sectional study was performed in 3281 healthy elite athletes (2039 men and 1242 women) aged 23.1±5.