Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography
Original ArticlesAssessment of regional systolic and diastolic wall motion velocities in highly trained athletes by pulsed wave Doppler tissue imaging*
Section snippets
Study population
Eighteen competitive athletes, 10 rowers and 8 canoeists, (14 men and 4 women, mean age 21 ± 4 years, range 15-28 years) represented our study group. These athletes agreed to participate in the study under a written invitation forwarded to an athletic association of our city, Cagliari, Italy. They had been training and competing for an average of 3 years (range 1-11 years) and, at the time of this investigation, were engaged in their training for 1 hour per day or more, for 5 days per week or
LV morphology and function
Table 2 shows the most significant morphologic and functional echocardiographic findings in our study population.LV cavity dimensions and wall thickness were increased in athletes in comparison with control participants. LVMI increased in athletes compared with control participants and exceeded upper normal limits (134 g/m2)7 in 7 men; no woman exceeded the upper normal limit for women (110 g/m2).7 Systolic LV function, as expressed by ejection fraction, was at normal levels in both athletes
Athlete's heart and conventional echocardiography
Several studies demonstrate that physical training is associated with an increase in LV cavity size, wall thickness, and mass,1 which is considered a physiologic LV adaptation aimed to normalize the increased parietal stress.11 Echocardiographic studies have supported the concept that LVH in highly trained athletes has no pathologic implication4, 5, 12 because global systolic function and diastolic filling patterns were found to be within normal limits in these participants.2, 13, 14, 15 In
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the expert editorial assistance of Enrico Lampis.
References (28)
Structural features of the athlete heart as defined by echocardiography
J Am Coll Cardiol
(1986)- et al.
Left ventricular systolic and diastolic function and hypertrophy in weight lifters
Am J Cardiol
(1986) - et al.
Left ventricular structure and function by echocardiography in ultra endurance athletes
Am J Cardiol
(1986) - et al.
Doppler echocardiographic measurement of low velocity motion of the left ventricular posterior wall
Am J Cardiol
(1989) - et al.
Left ventricular diastolic function in elite athletes with physiologic cardiac hypertrophy
J Am Coll Cardiol
(1985) - et al.
Contraction and relaxation velocities of the normal left ventricle using pulsed wave tissue Doppler echocardiography
Am J Cardiol
(1998) - et al.
Pulsed tissue Doppler imaging of left ventricular systolic and diastolic wall motion velocities to evaluate differences between long and short axes in healthy subjects
J Am Soc Echocardiogr
(1999) - et al.
Assessment of mitral annulus velocity by Doppler tissue imaging in the evaluation of left ventricular diastolic function
J Am Coll Cardiol
(1997) - et al.
Relation between extent of left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic filling abnormalities in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
J Am Coll Cardiol
(1990) - et al.
Pulsed Doppler tissue imaging in endurance athletes: relation between left ventricular preload and myocardial regional diastolic function
Am J Cardiol
(2000)
Differences in myocardial velocity gradient measured throughout the cardiac cycle in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, athletes and patients with left ventricular hypertrophy due to hypertension
J Am Coll Cardiol
The upper limit of physiologic cardiac hypertrophy in highly trained elite athletes
N Engl J Med
Cardiac disease in young trained athletes: insights into methods for distinguishing athlete's heart from structural heart disease, with particular emphasis on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Circulation
Detection of left ventricular hypertrophy by M-mode echocardiography: anatomic validation—standardization, and comparison to other methods
Hypertension
Cited by (0)
- *
Reprint requests: Sandra Zoncu, MD, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Cagliari, Policlinico Universitario, S. S. 554-Bivio Sestu, 03042 Monserrato (Cagliari), Sardinia, Italy (E-mail: [email protected]).