Seasonal variation of cardiac structure and function in the elite rugby football league athlete.

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Forsythe, L; George, K; Papadakis, M; Mill, N; Daniels, M; Oxborough, D (2023) Seasonal variation of cardiac structure and function in the elite rugby football league athlete. Echo Res Pract, 10 (1). p. 16. ISSN 2055-0464 https://doi.org/10.1186/s44156-023-00026-9
SGUL Authors: Papadakis, Michael

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s44156-023-00026-9

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pre-participation cardiac screening (PCS) of "Super-League" rugby football league (RFL) athletes is mandatory but may be completed at any time point. The aim of this study was to assess cardiac electrical, structural and functional variation across the competitive season. METHODS: Elite, male, RFL athletes from a single Super-League club underwent cardiac evaluation using electrocardiography (ECG), 2D echocardiography and speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) at four time points across the RFL season; (1) End pre-season (ENDPRE), (2) mid-season (MIDCOMP), (3) end-season (ENDCOMP) and (4) End off-season (ENDOFF). Training loads for each time point were also determined. One-way ANOVA with post-hoc Bonferroni were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: Total workload undertaken by athletes was lower at both MIDCOMP and ENDCOMP compared to ENDPRE (P < 0.001). ECG patterns were normal with training-related changes that were largely consistent across assessments. Structural data did not vary across assessment points. Standard functional data was not different across assessment points but apical rotation and twist were higher at ENDPRE (9.83˚ and 16.55˚, respectively compared to all other time points (MIDCOMP, 6.13˚ and 12.62˚; ENDCOMP, 5.84˚ and 12.12˚; ENDOFF 6.60˚ and 12.35˚). CONCLUSIONS: Despite some seasonal variation in training load, the athletes' ECG and cardiac structure were stable across a competitive season. Seasonal variation in left ventricular (LV) apical rotation and twist, associated with higher training loads, should be noted in the context of PCS.

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Keywords:

Athlete’s heart, Cardiac screening, Echocardiography, Seasonal variation, Speckle tracking echocardiography, Athlete's heart, Seasonal variation, Cardiac screening, Echocardiography, Speckle tracking echocardiography

SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre:

Academic Structure > Molecular and Clinical Sciences Research Institute (MCS)

Journal or Publication Title:

Echo Res Pract

ISSN:

2055-0464

Language:

eng

Dates: