Preserved Cardiac Function After Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

de Groot PC, van Dijk A, Dijk E, Hopman MT. Preserved cardiac function after chronic spinal cord injury.ObjectiveTo assess the effect of chronic deconditioning on cardiac dimensions and function in subjects with high-level spinal cord injury (SCI), who represent a human in-vivo model of extreme inactivity.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingUniversity medical center.ParticipantsSeven men with tetraplegia and 7 able-bodied controls.InterventionsNot applicable.Main Outcome MeasuresEchocardiographic measurements of resting cardiac dimensions, systolic function, and global and long-axis diastolic function.ResultsLeft ventricular mass index was significantly lower in the subjects with SCI than in the controls (90.8±26g/m2 vs 122±28.9g/m2; P=.05). In addition, dimensions of left ventricle, left atrium, and vena cava inferior were all significantly reduced in the subjects with SCI compared with controls (P<.05). There were no differences between the groups for any of the parameters reflecting systolic and global and long-axis diastolic function.ConclusionsTetraplegia is associated with a reduction in cardiac mass and dimensions. Resting diastolic and systolic function is not altered with continued exposure to inactivity, however, which suggests a remodeling of the heart as a physiologic adaptive process.