Two-dimensional echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular volume and stroke volume of endurance-trained athletes and untrained subjects.

The left ventricular volume (EDV), the left ventricular total volume (TDV), and the stroke volume (SV) of 40 male untrained subjects and 68 endurance athletes were determined using one-dimensional echocardiography, two-dimensional echocardiography, and a combined method. The accuracy of the volume and stroke volume measurements was checked by comparing them to ergometrically determined maximum oxygen pulse (max O2-P) and to radiographic heart volume (HV). There was clear improvement in the EDV, TDV, and SV measurements when using two-dimensional echocardiography and the combined method in comparison to one-dimensional echocardiography. The best correlation to the max-O2-P was reached by TDV2 (combined method, r = 0.8738). This method includes the myocardium of the left ventricle similar to heart volume measurements. The relationship is as close as between HV and max O2-P (r = 0.8665). The method suggested here is sufficiently accurate to be used in performance diagnosis to determine the size of the left ventricular volume and to classify pathological size changes or those due to training.