[Echocardiographic examination of cardiac structure and function in male athletes of static and dynamic disciplines].

UNLABELLED

Practising a record-seeking sport may in consequence lead to morphological and functional changes in a heart muscle. The physiological changes which are result of heart's adaptation to a greater physical effort are called "sportsman's heart". AIM OF THE THESIS: The value of echocardiographic tests in detecting and designating frequency of occurrence of heart abnormalities in sportsmen. The comparison of echocardiographic, functional and morphological adaptation changes in a group of sportsmen of both static and dynamic disciplines. The safety of practising football and bodybuilding. The influence of length of time when the sport is practised on the quantity of echocardiographic parameters.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The material analysed in the doctor's thesis consists of a group of 40 men practising a static sport and a group of 40 men subjected to dynamic effort, as well as a control group of 30 men who do not practise any sport. In all the examined men the analysis comprises echocardiographic examination. The analysis deals with morphology and function of heart's structures: the left and the right ventricles, atrium and valves, on the basis of echocardiography The data is evaluated in each group of sportsmen (frequency of occurrence of heart abnormalities in sportsmen) and compared both between the record-seekers practising two kinds of training, and between the record-seekers and the control group.

RESULTS

Adaptation changes of the left ventricle in the sportsmen practising static disciplines showed thickening of walls of the left ventricle with the lessening of its inner size, so called concentric hypertrophy. Thickness of walls of the left ventricle did not exceed 12 mm in diastole in 97% of the examined. In the dynamic group a slight growth in thickness of the walls with the delatation of the left ventricle's cavity was observed in relation to the sportsmen of the static group (p < 0.002). In both groups of sportsmen a significantly higher than in the control group mass index of the left ventricle was noted, (however, it did not exceed 130g/m2) and the size of the left atrium (p < 0.05) and of right ventricle (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The left ventricle's adaptation changes to static and dynamic effort differ. In the group of static effort there is noted a larger growth of walls' thickness with the smaller size of the left ventricle in comparison with the dynamic effort group. However, hypertrophy of the left ventricle walls occurs rarely and is usually small, more intense in the group subjected to static effort. Some parameters of the right ventricle's morphology differed significantly statistically in both groups of sportsmen. Nevertheless, physical effort causes changes in the right ventricle's morphology, irrespectively of the sort of the practised sport. Record-seeking football and bodybuilding turned out to be safe in the examined group. The length of time when the sport was practised does not affect the quantity of the monitored echocardiographic parameters.