Cardiac Deformation Patterns During Exercise in Healthy Children

In the cardiovascular system, geometric remodeling of the cardiac chambers is the main mechanism enabling increased cardiac performance during exercise in athletes, as well as underlying pathological progression toward heart failure. In this study, we investigated cardiac mechanics in healthy children across five phases of physical exercise, Rest, Mid, Peak, and Recovery, at 5 and 10 min, using three-dimensional echocardiography. Analyses were conducted relative to a reference cohort of healthy children to identify exercise-induced modifications that may contribute to cardiac remodeling. Ventricular performance was assessed through two complementary approaches: myocardial deformation, quantified by the principal values and directions of the strain tensor, and intraventricular flow dynamics, including assessments of ventricular filling patterns as the vorticity, vortex formation time and hemodynamic forces. This preliminary study offers promising insights into early cardiac function changes that may inform our understanding of cardiac remodeling during adaptation, healing or disease progression.