Original articles  CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2003 June;43(2):202-8

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Myocardial performance during maximal exercise in adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Rowland T., Koenigs L., Miller N.

Department of Pediatrics Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA, USA

Aim. To ­examine car­diac ­responses and indi­ca­tors of myo­car­dial func­tion ­during max­imal exer­cise in ado­les­cent ­girls ­with ano­rexia ner­vosa.
­Methods. ­Eight ­girls (­mean age 16.3±2.7 ­years) who sat­is­fied cri­teria for the diag­nosis of ano­rexia ner­vosa under­went max­imal ­cycle ­testing. Car­diac ­stroke ­volume and ­peak ­aortic ­velocity and ­mean accel­er­a­tion of ­flow (­markers of myo­car­dial con­trac­tility) ­were ­assessed ­using Dop­pler ech­o­car­di­og­raphy and com­pared to ­healthy con­trol sub­jects. Gas ­exchange var­i­ables ­were meas­ured ­using ­open cir­cuit spi­rom­etry tech­niques.
­Results. ­Resting and max­imal ­heart ­rates ­were ­less in the ­patients, and max­imal ­oxygen ­uptake was sig­nif­i­cantly ­lower ­than con­trols. Max­imal ­stroke ­index was ­greater in the ­patients ­than con­trols, ­with a ­normal pat­tern of ­response to pro­gres­sive exer­cise. ­Peak ­aortic ­velocity and ­mean accel­er­a­tion of ­flow ­were sim­ilar in the two ­groups ­when ­adjusted for ­heart ­rate.
Con­clu­sion. Find­ings of low ­heart ­rate and ­aerobic fit­ness pre­vi­ously ­described in ­patients ­with ano­rexia ner­vosa ­were con­firmed. How­ever, ­there was no evi­dence of ­abnormal myo­car­dial per­for­mance ­during max­imal exer­cise ­testing.