Monitoring Morphologic Changes in Male Rowers Using Limited Portable Echocardiography Performed by a Frontline Physician

Abstract

Athletes' hearts have been studied for adaptive changes in response to exercise. Physiologic changes are normal responses to intense athletic training regimens, whereas pathologic changes predispose athletes to sudden cardiac death. The two alterations overlap in clinical presentation. Research continues to investigate the upper limits of cardiac remodeling to aid clinical decision making. Studying normal changes that occur in response to exercise will advance physicians' understanding of physiologic responses to exercise and potentially improve clinical distinction. To expand this body of knowledge, we present an observational case series that describes morphologic changes in athlete's hearts concurrent with performance measurements.

Keywords: atlas; echocardiography (adult); frontline physician; limited echocardiography; morphologic characteristics; point-of-care ultrasound; sports medicine/orthopedics; sudden cardiac death; ultrasound techniques/physics.