[The diameter of the common trunk of the left coronary artery and left ventricular mass in athletes. An echocardiographic study].

The feasibility of two-dimensional echocardiographic visualization of the coronary artery was re-evaluated in adults in the light of technological advances and development of new imaging planes. Athletes are a good model for this type of study. The aim of our study was to visualize in athletes the coronary arteries, particularly the left main artery, and to see if a correlation exists between left-ventricular mass and coronary diameter. Twenty-one endurance athletes, aged between 17 and 30 years, and 21 control subjects, matched for age, sex and body surface area, were examined. All the subjects were examined with mono- and two-dimensional echocardiography, with annular array (3.5 and 5 MHz), with parasternal and apical projections modified in order to visualize the left main coronary artery. Wall thickness, left ventricular internal dimension and left ventricular mass were calculated. Interventricular septum thickness was 10.8 +/- 1.5 mm for athletes (A) versus 8.2 +/- 0.9 mm for controls (C); p less than 0.01. Posterior wall thickness was 10.4 +/- 1.5 mm (A) versus 8.2 +/- 0.6 mm (C); p less than 0.01. The left ventricular diastolic diameter was 54.6 +/- 5.1 mm (A) versus 49.5 +/- 3.4 mm (C); p less than 0.01. The mean left ventricular mass was 278.2 +/- 85.2 g (A) versus 165.6 +/- 35.4 g (C); p less than 0.01. The mean diameter of the left main coronary artery was 4.9 +/- 0.8 mm (A) versus 3.1 +/- 0.4 mm (C); p less than 0.01.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)