Lower Exercise Tolerance in Patients With Turner Syndrome

FRIDAY, April 1 (HealthDay News) -- Women with Turner syndrome (TS) have lower maximal aerobic capacity and lower exercise tolerance than controls, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

Giancarlo Tancredi, M.D., from the University of Rome, and colleagues evaluated the cardiac parameters of 50 young women (mean age, 21.3±8.5 years) with TS compared to 56 age-matched healthy control women. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing, lung function tests, and echocardiographic study were performed on both the test and control groups to measure maximal aerobic capacity and cardiac function.

The investigators found that maximal oxygen uptake was significantly reduced in patients with TS compared to the controls. The forced expiratory volume in one second was greater in patients than controls. Patients with TS have a smaller left ventricle compared to controls, but the mass index is significantly greater. Tissue Doppler imaging indicated subclinical systolic and diastolic dysfunction in the left ventricle in patients with TS.

"The patients with TS had a lower maximal aerobic capacity and exercise tolerance than did the controls. The anatomic and functional cardiac aspects were peculiar to those with TS and might represent a specific cardiac phenotype," the authors write.

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