Why the study?
Sport-induced morphological and functional cardiac changes frequently exceed normal limits, creating diagnostic challenges in distinguishing pathology from physiological adaptation during echocardiographic assessment.
This review highlights the multifactorial nature of the athlete's heart, emphasizing that echocardiographic interpretation must account for sporting discipline, training volume, ethnicity, and body size to accurately differentiate physiological adaptation from cardiomyopathy.
Echocardiographic screening in athletes requires multifactorial interpretation; leaves open prospective validation of ethnicity-specific norms.
The manifestations of the athlete's heart can create diagnostic challenges during an echocardiographic assessment. The classifications of the morphological and functional changes induced by sport participation are often beyond 'normal limits' making it imperative to identify any overlap between pathology and normal physiology. The phenotype of the athlete's heart is not exclusive to one chamber or function. Therefore, in this narrative review, we consider the effects of sporting discipline and training volume on the holistic athlete's heart, as well as demographic factors including ethnicity, body size, sex, and age.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Flanagan et al. (2023) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: