title: [Echocardiographic visualization of the coronary arteries in endurance athletes].
abstract: Visualization of left (LCA) and right coronary artery (RCA) by two-dimensional echocardiography (2-DE) was tried in 20 highly-trained endurance athletes and 20 normal sedentary controls using multiple echo planes. On the standard parasternal short axis aortic root view, the ostium of LCA was successfully visualized in all 20 athletes (100 percent) and in 18 controls (90 percent), the left main trunk in 19 athletes (95 percent) and 14 controls (70 percent) and a distinct bifurcation of the main trunk in 4 athletes (20 percent) and 2 controls (10 percent). In another 2 athletes, the initial tract of the left anterior descending artery and of the left circumflex branch could also be identified. With the same echo view, both from left or right sternal border, the ostium of RCA was visualized in 19 athletes (95 percent) and 16 controls (80 percent), the right main trunk in 18 athletes (90 percent) and 15 controls (75 percent) and a distinct bifurcation of RCA with one branch in 9 athletes (45 percent) and none of controls (p less than 0.025). Moreover, visualization of the distal tract of RCA was obtained on the parasternal long axis view of right ventricle in 15 athletes (75 percent) and 6 controls (30 percent, p less than 0.025). The very good quality of the 2-DE images allowed to measure the size of the ostia and initial tracts of both coronary arteries and the length for which the vessels could distinctly be followed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Clinica Medica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zeppilli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rubino
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Manno
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cameli
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Palmieri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gorra
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D006801:Humans; D012420:Running; D013177:Sports; D013550:Swimming
vernacular_title: Visualizzazione ecocardiografica delle arterie coronarie in atleti di resistenza.