Left ventricular hypertrophy in athletes: an exercise-echocardiographic study

Abstract

Left ventricular dimensions measured by M-mode echocardiography of 10 distance runners and 10 wrestlers were compared to 10 sedentary controls at rest and during 12 min of semisupine, graded bicycle ergometer exercise. At rest, runners and wrestlers demonstrated greater left ventricular mass compared to controls (mean values, 311.8 and 325.9 vs 215.9 g, respectively: P less than 0.05). In wrestlers, this was due to increased left ventricular septal (13.5 mm) and posterior wall thickness (12.9 mm) compared to controls (9.1 and 10.1 mm, respectively: P less than 0.05). In runners, this was due to increased left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (55.8 mm) compared to controls (49.7 mm) (P less than 0.05). During exercise, the different patterns noted at rest among the three groups in left ventricular dimensions and function persisted and were preserved: runners maintained a higher end-diastolic dimension compared to wrestlers and controls and greater shortening dimension compared to wrestlers. Absolute changes in left ventricular parameters from rest to exercise were not significantly different among the three groups.

Conclusions: 1) different patterns of left ventricular hypertrophy exist among different types of athletes, with mainly increased wall thickness in primarily statically trained athletes and increased volume in dynamically trained athletes; and 2) these differences observed at rest persist during moderate-intensity, semisupine ergometer exercise and have direct functional significance, thereby emphasizing the differences found in cardiac dimensions among different types of athletes.