Vortex formation time in female athletes
(2024) In International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging 40(2). p.373-384- Abstract
Regular, vigorous physical activity can have a significant impact on cardiac function, leading to cardiac morphological alterations that may be challenging to distinguish from pathological changes. Therefore, new screening methods are needed to accurately differentiate between adaptive changes and pathological alterations in athletes. Vortex formation time (VFT) is an emerging method that shows potential in this regard, as it involves the formation of a rotating vortex ring in the left ventricle during the early filling phase of diastole. In this study, we investigated the difference in VFT between two groups of women: professional handball players and healthy middle-aged female athletes, along with their corresponding control groups.... (More)
Regular, vigorous physical activity can have a significant impact on cardiac function, leading to cardiac morphological alterations that may be challenging to distinguish from pathological changes. Therefore, new screening methods are needed to accurately differentiate between adaptive changes and pathological alterations in athletes. Vortex formation time (VFT) is an emerging method that shows potential in this regard, as it involves the formation of a rotating vortex ring in the left ventricle during the early filling phase of diastole. In this study, we investigated the difference in VFT between two groups of women: professional handball players and healthy middle-aged female athletes, along with their corresponding control groups. By using echocardiography-Doppler analysis of the heart, VFT was calculated based on the left ventricular ejection fraction, the ratio between the end-diastolic volume and the diameter of the mitral annulus, and the ratio of the atrial contraction volume to the total inflow via the mitral valve. The study reveals a significant increase in VFT in both professional handball players and middle-aged female athletes compared to their respective control groups. Moreover, statistically significant differences between handball players and middle-aged female athletes were observed, indicating that the level of physical activity may affect the VFT. These results suggest that VFT could be a promising screening tool for identifying cardiac adaptations due to long-term vigorous training, potentially enabling more accurate diagnoses of cardiac morphological alterations in athletes.
(Less)
- author
- Cirovic, Stefan ; Malmgren, Andreas LU ; Kurdie, Rayane ; Bilal, Dejan ; Dencker, Magnus LU and Gudmundsson, Petri LU
- publishing date
- 2024-02
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Middle Aged, Humans, Female, Stroke Volume, Ventricular Function, Left, Predictive Value of Tests, Heart Atria, Athletes
- in
- International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
- volume
- 40
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 373 - 384
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:38008878
- scopus:85178284310
- ISSN
- 1875-8312
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10554-023-02995-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- © 2023. The Author(s).
- id
- 43448f44-d612-4b52-acc7-ba1750b0b5c3
- date added to LUP
- 2025-10-21 12:01:31
- date last changed
- 2025-10-22 04:01:32
@article{43448f44-d612-4b52-acc7-ba1750b0b5c3,
abstract = {{<p>Regular, vigorous physical activity can have a significant impact on cardiac function, leading to cardiac morphological alterations that may be challenging to distinguish from pathological changes. Therefore, new screening methods are needed to accurately differentiate between adaptive changes and pathological alterations in athletes. Vortex formation time (VFT) is an emerging method that shows potential in this regard, as it involves the formation of a rotating vortex ring in the left ventricle during the early filling phase of diastole. In this study, we investigated the difference in VFT between two groups of women: professional handball players and healthy middle-aged female athletes, along with their corresponding control groups. By using echocardiography-Doppler analysis of the heart, VFT was calculated based on the left ventricular ejection fraction, the ratio between the end-diastolic volume and the diameter of the mitral annulus, and the ratio of the atrial contraction volume to the total inflow via the mitral valve. The study reveals a significant increase in VFT in both professional handball players and middle-aged female athletes compared to their respective control groups. Moreover, statistically significant differences between handball players and middle-aged female athletes were observed, indicating that the level of physical activity may affect the VFT. These results suggest that VFT could be a promising screening tool for identifying cardiac adaptations due to long-term vigorous training, potentially enabling more accurate diagnoses of cardiac morphological alterations in athletes.</p>}},
author = {{Cirovic, Stefan and Malmgren, Andreas and Kurdie, Rayane and Bilal, Dejan and Dencker, Magnus and Gudmundsson, Petri}},
issn = {{1875-8312}},
keywords = {{Middle Aged; Humans; Female; Stroke Volume; Ventricular Function, Left; Predictive Value of Tests; Heart Atria; Athletes}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{373--384}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging}},
title = {{Vortex formation time in female athletes}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10554-023-02995-8}},
doi = {{10.1007/s10554-023-02995-8}},
volume = {{40}},
year = {{2024}},
}