Left ventricular structure and function in professional basketball players

Abstract

The noninvasive nature of echocardiographic/Doppler methods has allowed detailed assessment of cardiac anatomy and physiology in normal subjects and athletes, as well as accurate determination of left ventricular (LV) wall thickness and mass. 1,2 Recently, interest has developed in the use of Doppler recordings of mitral inflow to assess LV filling patterns in normal subjects, in conditioned athletes, and in various disease states associated with LV hypertrophy. 3–10 Several studies 6–9 have suggested that an increase in LV mass may be seen in certain highly trained athletes without any abnormalities in Doppler-derived LV filling parameters. This finding has engendered the term “physiologic” hypertrophy. However, little data are available on hearts of large body size athletes in whom LV mass is increased. In the present study highly trained aerobic athletes (professional basketball players) and nontrained normal subjects with large body size were evaluated by echocardiographic/Doppler techniques to determine whether increased LV mass and cavity size per se affect diastolic function when systolic function is normal.