Artery Research

Volume 25, Issue Supplement 1, December 2019, Pages S68 - S68

P25 Effect of Live-firefighting on Ventricular-vascular Coupling

Authors
Brooks Hibner1, *, Elizabeth Schroeder1, Wesley Lefferts1, Thessa Hilgenkamp1, Huimin Yan2, Gavin Horn4, Denise Smith4, Bo Fernhall3
1Integrative Physiology Laboratory, University of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
2Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
3Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA
4Department of Health and Human Physiological Sciences, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
*Corresponding author. Email: bhibne2@uic.edu
Corresponding Author
Brooks Hibner
Available Online 15 February 2020.
DOI
10.2991/artres.k.191224.059How to use a DOI?
Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular events are the leading cause of death among firefighters, with the greatest risk occurring during or shortly after fire suppression activity. Increased cardiovascular risk potentially manifests from detrimental changes in ventricular function, vascular load, and their interaction described as ventricular-vascular coupling (VVC). Therefore, our objective was to determine the effect of live-firefighting on ventricular systolic function, vascular load, and VVC.

Methods: Forty male (27 ± 6 years, 26.9 ± 4.0 kg·m−2) firefighters completed hemodynamic and cardiac measures before and 10–30 minutes after 3 hours of live-firefighting. Left ventricular function assessed as ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), and ventricular elastance (Elv: ESP/end-systolic volume [ESV]) via echocardiography and brachial-estimated ESP. Vascular load assessed as arterial elastance (Ea: end systolic pressure [ESP]/stroke volume [SV]). VVC quantified as the ratio of Ea to Elv and indexed to body surface area (EaI, ElvI).

Results: Following firefighting, both EF and FS significantly decreased (p < 0.05) with no change in Elv (p = 0.49) EaI significantly increased (p < 0.01), driven by EDV-mediated decreases in SV (p < 0.05) and unaltered ESP (p = 0.99). These disparate changes resulted in an increase in VVC (p < 0.01) post firefighting.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest firefighting does not alter ventricular elastance but increases arterial load among healthy firefighters; resulting in an uncoupling of the heart and vascular systems. This undesirable increase in VVC and concomitant reduction in ventricular systolic function may contribute to increased cardiovascular risk following firefighting.

Pre Post p
Weight* (kg) 88.9 ± 14.0 88.0 ± 14.0 <0.001
SBP (mmHg) 135 ± 16 135 ± 16 0.992
DBP (mmHg) 80 ± 8 80 ± 10 0.868
MAP (mmHg) 98 ± 7 98 ± 10 0.868
HR (bpm) 70 ± 11 90 ± 13 <0.001
SV (ml) 84.7 ± 20.1 71.1 ± 21.8 <0.001
EDV (ml) 144.1 ± 37.0 132.3 ± 37.9 0.003
ESV* (ml) 59.3 ± 24.6 61.2 ± 24.5 0.506
ESP (mmHg/ml) 121.3 ± 8.0 121.3 ± 14.2 0.992
EF (%) 59.7 ± 9.2 54.3 ± 9.4 0.004
FS (%) 32.6 ± 6.3 28.6 ± 6.0 0.002
EaI* 0.73 ± 0.46 1.89 ± 0.67 0.001
ElvI* 1.15 ± 0.53 1.12 ± 0.58 0.487
VVC* 0.72 ± 0.30 0.91 ± 0.48 0.002
*

p-value obtained from transformed variable. SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; MAP, mean arterial pressure; HR, heart rate; SV, stroke volume; EDV, end diastolic volume; ESV, end systolic volume; ESP, end systolic pressure; EF, ejection fraction; FS, fractional shortening; EaI, arterial elastance indexed to body surface area; ElvI, ventricular elastance indexed to body surface area; VVC, ventricular-vascular coupling.

Changes in cardiovascular parameters pre/post firefighting activity

Copyright
© 2019 Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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Journal
Artery Research
Volume-Issue
25 - Supplement 1
Pages
S68 - S68
Publication Date
2020/02/15
ISSN (Online)
1876-4401
ISSN (Print)
1872-9312
DOI
10.2991/artres.k.191224.059How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2019 Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Brooks Hibner
AU  - Elizabeth Schroeder
AU  - Wesley Lefferts
AU  - Thessa Hilgenkamp
AU  - Huimin Yan
AU  - Gavin Horn
AU  - Denise Smith
AU  - Bo Fernhall
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/02/15
TI  - P25 Effect of Live-firefighting on Ventricular-vascular Coupling
JO  - Artery Research
SP  - S68
EP  - S68
VL  - 25
IS  - Supplement 1
SN  - 1876-4401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/artres.k.191224.059
DO  - 10.2991/artres.k.191224.059
ID  - Hibner2020
ER  -