ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Turner syndrome (TS) is a rare X-chromosomal disease, which affects one in 2500-3000 female newborns. TS is associated with a distinct cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Arterial hypertension is present in up to 50% of young TS women and closely related to the onset of aortic dilatation and dissection. The effective management of arterial hypertension can be considered as crucial to improve overall cardiovascular outcome of TS women. In the general population, physical activity was demonstrated to be an effective tool in the prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases, including arterial hypertension. However, limited data on this research field is available for TS. This study investigated the influence of physical activity on cardiovascular morbidity in adult TS women.

Methods: An anonymous online questionnaire for adult TS subjects was established. The German version of the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess Metabolic-Equivalent-(MET)-minutes per week for recreational activities. Acquired cardiovascular diseases were additionally determined. The achievement of ≥600 MET-minutes per week for recreational activities was tested against the presence of arterial hypertension, glucose and lipid metabolism disorders using a chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test. The influence of MET-minutes per week for recreational activities on weight classification was tested utilizing an unpaired t-test. A P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: In the present study, 83 TS women (mean age: 37.48±11.22 years) were included. Arterial hypertension was reported by 24.1%, glucose metabolism disorders by 4.8% and lipid metabolism disorders by 14.5% of TS participants. Excess weight was present in 49.4% of TS women. On average, TS women achieved 1052.77±666.00 MET-minutes per week for recreational activities. Women who did not achieve ≥600 MET-minutes per week for recreational activities reported significantly more often the presence of arterial hypertension (P=0.006) but not the presence of glucose or lipid metabolism disorders. Moreover, no significant differences in MET-minutes per week for recreational activities were assessed between different weight classifications.

Discussion: The results of this study underline that physical activity might play an important role in the management of arterial hypertension in adult TS women. Given the increased cardiovascular TS morbidity, patients should be strongly encouraged to implement healthy lifestyle habits in their daily routine. In the future, studies are required that investigate the effects of regular aerobic physical training on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in TS. Data of this abstract is included in a recent publication of our department (https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11010167).