Abstract

Agonistic sports activity determines a number of cardiac alterations, e.g., increase of Left Ventricular Mass (LVM) and/or of Left Ventricular Diastolic Diameter (LVDD). This form of hypertrophy should be distinguished from that arising from haemodynamic overload or cardiomyopathy where there is frequently observed a change in the peak left venticular filling. In order to investigate the peak left ventricular filling in subjects practising sport at an agonistic level, we submitted to M-B mode echocardiography imaging and Pulsate Wave (PW) and Continual Wave (CW) Doppler, a group of 20 athletes involved in sports with mixed metabolic employment. As control group, we studied twenty healthy sedentary and normotensive subjects, in sex, weight and height similar to the previous group. The results show that in the case group there is significant increase of the LVDD, Left Ventricular Posterior Wall (LVPW), Septum Interventricular (SIV), LVM (total and corrected for height and body surface), Shortening Fractional (FS) and Ejection Fraction (FE). The PW/CW echo-Doppler study did not show any significant difference with regard to the left ventricular filling index, while decrease of isovolumetric relaxation time was significant. In conclusion, the finding of a regular index of diastolic function, demonstrates the physiological character of left ventricular mass increase in an athletic heart and the usefulness of the Doppler echocardiography in order to reveal unshown forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathies in athletes. Verf.-Referat