Abstract des Autors

The population examined comprised a group of 18 male ex-athletes (mean age 43+/-5 years) with a familial pattern of arterial hypertension who had taken part in competitive cross-country running for at least ten years (training 5 times/week over 10 km) and a group of 20 male ex-athletes (mean age 45+/-3 years) with matching characteristics, but without any familial trend of arterial hypertension. All the subjects included in the study were monitored at six-monthly clinical controls with electrocardiograms and echocardiograms at least 36 months after having ceased competitive activities. At the end of the follow-up period the following differences were noted between the two groups studied: 1) group with familial hypertension: 12 developed stable hypertension and of these 10 also presented left ventricular hypertrophy; 4 showed echocardiographic evidence of an isolated increase in left ventricular mass, while the remaining two were unchanged; 2) group without familial hypertension: 8 showed increased left ventricular mass values with normal pressure values while the remaining 12 showed no alteration. Familial arterial hypertension represents a considerable cardiovascular risk factor; on the contrary, the role of professional sporting activities as a protective factor continues to be controversial. In this series familial hypertension and professional sports activities appeared to encourage an early development of left ventricular hypertrophy. Verf.-Referat