Alpine skiing and anaerobic performance in solid organ transplant recipients

Abstract

Limited information has been published about sporting activities in solid organ transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to assess "in the field" performance capacities of a group of transplant recipients involved in an alpine skiing competition. We studied 16 transplant recipients (13 men and 3 women) who had undergone transplantations (11 kidney, 4 liver, and 1 heart) at 89 +/- 68 months prior while participating in an alpine skiing race. The patients performed a countermovement jumping test to measure the explosive power of the lower limbs. In all patients blood lactate concentrations (La) were measured at the end of a giant slalom race. The maximum displacement of the center of mass during the jumping test was 22.4 +/- 9.3 cm; the time to complete the giant slalom was 75.5 +/- 16.5 seconds and La was 3.5 +/- 0.8 mmol/L. We observed significant linear relationships between race time and La (R(2) = 0.4733; P < .01) and between race time and performance in the jumping test (R(2) = 0.3655; P < .05). This study indicated that recovery of anaerobic and technical sporting activities is possible in organ transplant recipients. Muscular power and anaerobic performances among a selected group of solid organ transplant recipients were similar to those of the general untrained population.