title: Athlete's heart: right and left ventricular mass and function in male endurance athletes and untrained individuals determined by magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Athlete's heart represents a structural and functional adaptation to regular endurance exercise.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  While left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy of the athlete's heart has been examined in many studies, the extent of right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy is still uncertain because of its complex shape and trabecular structure. To examine RV hypertrophy, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and hypothesized that athlete's heart is characterized by similar LV and RV hypertrophy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The LV and RV mass, volume, and function in 21 male endurance athletes (A) (27 +/- 4 years; 70 +/- 8 kg; 178 +/- 7 cm; maximal oxygen uptake [VO(2)max]: 68 +/- 5 ml/min per kg) and 21 pair-matched untrained control subjects (C) (26 +/- 3 years; 71 +/- 9 kg; 178 +/- 6 cm; VO(2)max: 42 +/- 6 ml/min per kg) were analyzed by MRI (Magnetom Vision 1.5T, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Left ventricular masses: (A: 200 +/- 20 g; C: 148 +/- 17 g) and RV masses (A: 77 +/- 10 g; C: 56 +/- 8 g) differed significantly between the groups (p < 0.001). The LV and RV end-diastolic volumes (EDV) (LV-EDV 167 +/- 28 ml [A]; 125 +/- 16 ml [C]; RV-EDV 160 +/- 26 ml [A]; 128 +/- 10 ml [C]), and stroke volumes (SV) (LV-SV: 99 +/- 18 ml [A], 74 +/- 11 ml [C]; RV-SV: 102 +/- 18 ml [A], 79 +/- 8 ml [C]) were significantly different between the athletes and control subjects (p < 0.001), whereas ejection fractions (EF) (LV-EF: 59 +/- 3% [A]; 59 +/- 6% [C]; RV-EF: 63 +/- 3% [A], 62 +/- 3% [C]) and LV-to-RV ratios were similar for both groups (LV-to-RV mass: 2.6 +/- 0.2 [A], 2.6 +/- 0.3 [C]; LV-to-RV EDV: 1.05 +/- 0.14 [A], 0.99 +/- 0.14 [C]; LV-to-RV SV: 0.98 +/- 0.17 [A], 0.95 +/- 0.17 [C]; LV-to-RV EF: 0.93 +/- 0.07 [A], 0.96 +/- 0.10 [C]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regular and extensive endurance training results in similar changes in LV and RV mass, volume, and function in endurance athletes. This leads to the conclusion that the athlete's heart is a balanced enlarged heart.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, University of Saarland, Campus, Building 39.1, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany. j.scharhag@mx.uni-saarland.de
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scharhag
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Urhausen
authors.forename: Veneta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rochette
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kramann
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kindermann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D013177:Sports; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*; D016278:Ventricular Function, Right / Q000502:physiology*