Effect of aging and physical activity on left ventricular compliance.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional physiological comparative study
PubMed 15364801 · doi:10.1161/01.CIR.0000142863.71285.74
What was done
Twelve healthy sedentary seniors (mean age 69.8 years; 6 women, 6 men), 12 Masters athletes (mean age 67.8 years; 6 women, 6 men), and 14 young sedentary controls (mean age 28.9 years; 7 women, 7 men) underwent pulmonary artery catheterization and echocardiography to construct Starling and left ventricular pressure-volume curves. Hemodynamic measurements, including pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and left ventricular end-diastolic volume, were assessed at baseline, during decreased cardiac filling via lower-body negative pressure (-15 and -30 mm Hg), and after saline infusion (15 and 30 mL/kg).
What was found
Sedentary seniors showed substantially decreased left ventricular compliance compared with young controls, resulting in higher filling pressures for a given volume and higher myocardial wall stress for a given strain. Masters athletes exhibited greater stroke volume for any given filling pressure compared with age-matched sedentary seniors, with similar contractility assessed by preload recruitable stroke work. The left ventricular pressure-volume curve of Masters athletes was indistinguishable from that of young sedentary controls. Specific numerical values for pressures and volumes were not provided in the abstract.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that age-associated declines in left ventricular compliance are driven predominantly by physical inactivity rather than inevitable biological senescence, supporting endurance exercise as a preventive strategy against heart failure in older adults.
Limits
The sample size is very small (n=38 total across three cohorts). The cross-sectional design cannot confirm causality or eliminate survivor and self-selection biases among lifelong Masters athletes, and the abstract does not assess whether starting exercise later in life can reverse existing ventricular stiffness.
Cited by
- supports Senior Masters athletes who are physically active daily and compete nationally have cardiac structures that structurally resemble those of healthy 30-year-olds.