Effects of Super-ultramarathon Running on Cardiac Structure and Function in Middle-aged Men It remains unclear whether high-intensity loads lead to deformities and a reduced function of the heart muscle. This study stated the hypothesis that participants of a six-day super-ultramarathone (622 km) would show asleep serial changes in the heart structure and function before and after the marathon as well as during the recovery phase. The heart structure and function of male volunteers of middle-aged age was examined before and after the ultramarathon as well as in two recreational periods in spacing three days by echocardiography. There were no differences in the left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic dimensions and in the end diastolic volume between before and after the ultramarathone.The thickness of the interventricular septum, the thickness of the left ventricular rear wall, the left ventricular mass and mass index significantly increased according to the ultramarathone compared to the ultramarathone decreased during the recovery phase. The impact volume and the left ventricular ejection fraction significantly decreased according to the ultramarathone, while both values increase during the recovery phase. There were no significant differences in the indexes for left ventricular relaxation in each valuation period.
An extreme endurance burden such as an ultramarathone can lead to temporary myocardial hypertrophy and reducing contractility. The study can be found under https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32583637/