Abstract
Echocardiography can be a useful tool to evaluate athlete’s heart in various sports. In this scoping review, we discuss some of the structural and functional changes of the right ventricle across different echocardiographic modes and techniques among individuals engaging in extreme athletic activity. We highlight the role of imaging in the evaluation of athlete’s heart and describe similarities and differences between echocardiographic and cardiac MRI features related to acute and chronic athletic activity. We will also review novel echocardiographic parameters including speckle tracking and strain/strain rate imaging. Overall, we aim to present common echocardiographic parameters in elite sports population in order to facilitate better interpretation of their interpretations that may not necessarily be a distinct digression from these common features.
Highlights
The athlete’s heart syndrome refers to the electro-morphological remodeling that occurs to varying degrees depending upon the sporting discipline [1]
Keywords were chosen according to pertinence and probability of being found; including athletes heart, athletes, heart, echocardiography, right ventricle, right ventricular morphology, endurance athletes, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, cardiac remodeling, exercise echocardiography, speckle tracking, Tissue Doppler, Longitudinal Peak Systolic Strain, Strain Myocardial Imaging, and sudden cardiac death were utilized to search for relevant articles
MRI and 3-D echo imaging as well as strain imaging are new developments that may help understanding these complex features of the right ventricle
Summary
The athlete’s heart syndrome refers to the electro-morphological remodeling that occurs to varying degrees depending upon the sporting discipline [1]. Regular participation in intensive physical exercise is associated with central as well as peripheral cardiovascular adaptations that facilitate the generation of a large and sustained cardiac output and enhance the extraction of oxygen from exercising muscle for aerobic glycolysis [2]. Sports are classified according to their types, dynamic (isotonic) or static (isometric). Dynamic exercise involves changes in muscle length and joint movement with rhythmic contractions which develop a relatively small intramuscular force. Static exercise induces development of a large intramuscular force with little or no change in muscle length or joint movement. These two types of exercises should be thought of as the two opposite poles of a continuum, with most physical activities involving both static and dynamic components [3]
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