title: Cardiovascular adaptation in athletes.
abstract: Millions of athletes train for and participate in competitive athletics each year. Many of these athletes will present to a cardiovascular specialist with signs or symptoms that might indicate heart disease and these athletes/patients will ask for advice on their ability to continue to train and compete safely. By virtue of their training, athletes׳ hearts may undergo significant structural and electrical change, presenting a special challenge for the cardiovascular specialist. It is important to understand normal adaptive changes in order to separate normal physiology from pathology.
authors.affiliation: Krannert Institute of Cardiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN. Electronic address: rikovacs@iu.edu.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kovacs
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Performance Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Aaron L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Baggish
mesh_terms: D056352:Athletes; D059267:Cardiomegaly, Exercise-Induced / Q000502:physiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods; D012449:Safety; D013177:Sports; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000379:methods
keywords: Athlete; Athlete׳s heart; Cardiomyopathy; Exercise; Hypertrophy; Sports cardiology