Yagesh Bhambhani as Sapienza visiting Professor prot.n. 0072312, del 19/12/2008; classif III/11. Adattamenti cardiovascolari all'esercizio fisico ed allo Sport in Atleti con danno locomotorio. Effetti dell'allenamento di Alta intensità.

The purposes were to: (1) assess the cardiac output determinants (stroke volume – SV and heart rate -HR) in Paralympic athletes with paraplegia (PARA, N = 15) and those with amputation (AMP, N= 9)/poliomyelitis (PM, N =6), (2) compare their relationships between aerobic fitness and maximal SV, and (3) examine the inter-relationships between oxygen pulse (O2 pulse) and both SV and (a-v)O2diff in these athletes. The regression equations for predicting SV from O2 pulse indicated that the O2 pulse was valid predictor of SV. This study shows that maximal SV is a significant determinant of peak VO2 in Paralympic athletes with locomotor disabilities. O2 pulse can be used to characterize differences in aerobic fitness between Paralympic athletes and predict exercise SV when direct measurement is not possible. SV was significantly related to cardiac dimensions assessed through echocardiografic measuraments.