Abstract

This paper is based on previous X-ray and xerotomographic observations showingevident pulmonary vascularity in athletes engaged in endurance sports comparedwith healthy, nontrained subjects. The research has been continued in the formof a perfusional pneumoscintigraphic study in erect position of six athletes and four non-trained subjects. Quantitative analysis of the scans thus obtained showed that the pulmonary blood flow in athletes and in the sedentary subjects is distributed in a different percentage between right and left lungs. As for blood flow distribution along the vertical axis of the lung, no significant difference between the two groups was noted. On the basis of what was observed previously with the X-ray and xerotomographic technique and in view of the fact that pneumoscintigraphy only reveals flow distribution in thepulmonary arterial bed, it is concluded that in athletes the increase in lung vessels may prevalently concern the venous circulation. Verf.-Referat