[Prevalence of hypertensive response to exercise in a group of healthy young male athletes. Relationship with left ventricular mass and prospective clinical implications].

AIM

We examined the prevalence of hypertensive response to exercise in a group of healthy young male athletes and evaluate the relationship between this exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise and left ventricular mass.

METHODS

We studied 37 healthy male athletes (18 soccer players, 12 mountain climbers and 7 canoeists) at a similar level of physical conditioning at the time of the study. The age ranged from 16 to 37 (mean +/- SD: 25.9 +/- 6 yrs.). They underwent basal measurements of heart rate and blood pressure, maximum cycle ergometry in the erect position (increasing 50 W each 3 minutes until exhaustion) and basal echocardiography-Doppler. The statistical analysis was performed using a non-paired Student-t-test.

RESULTS

A hypertensive response to exercise was observed in 8 of the 37 athletes (21.6%). In these 8 athletes the mean left ventricular mass index was 204.88 +/- 63.22 g/m2 estimated by echocardiography, whereas the mean in athletes without exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise was 143.29 +/- 27.51 g/m2 (p < 0.0001). All the athletes with hypertensive response to exercise showed left ventricular hypertrophy, being severe in 75% of them. Of the athletes without hypertensive response to exercise, 44.9% did not exhibit left ventricular hypertrophy. A left ventricular mass index of > or = 190 g/m2 was observed in 50% of athletes with exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise, versus only 6.8% of athletes without it.

CONCLUSIONS

A fairly high prevalence of hypertensive response to exercise was observed in our series of healthy young male athletes. The athletes with exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise exhibited a significantly greater left ventricular mass than athletes without it. According to current general knowledge, this group of healthy athletes with hypertensive response to exercise could be prone to develop future chronic high blood pressure at rest and non-physiologic left ventricular hypertrophy. Thus, ergometry may be a useful test to prospectively identify a group of individuals at increased risk for developing essential arterial hypertension, potentially allowing early intervention before hypertension may contribute to cardiovascular risk.