Value of cardiovascular interaction by exercise echocardiography according to gender

摘要： Background The cardiovascular interaction is important for the heart to achieve maximal cardiac work.The cardiovascular stiffness contributes to exercise intolerance. However, the difference in cardiovascular stiff-ness between genders is seldom reported when the objects do exercise. This study was to evaluate the ventricu-lar and arterial stiffness at rest and exercise according to gender. Methods Forty healthy volunteers were studied. The left ventricular function, structure and blood flow were measured by echocardiograph at rest and exercise. The derived variables including left ventricular end-systolic and diastolic elastance(Ees and Ed), arterial elastance(Ea), ventricular-vascular coupling index(VVI) and total stiffness index(TSI) were calculated.Results During exercise, all of the Ed, Ees, Ea and TSI showed significant increase, but VVI was no difference compared with them at rest. Both at rest and exercise, Ed, VVI and TSI had significantly higher in women than in men. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves showed the area of Ed, Ees, Ea and TSI was greater than that of VVI. There were significant differences in Ed, Ees, Ea and TSI(P < 0.05), but no significant difference in VVI(P > 0.05) between rest and exercise. Only in women, the Ed, Ees and Ea were correlated with the TSI, rate pressure product, E/e and EF. Conclusions Exercise leads to synchronous increase in ventricular and arterial stiffness, and ventriculoarterial coupling is maintained for healthy objects. The exercise intolerance is lower in women than in men. ... （共10頁）