Cardiac Remodeling in Elite Aquatic Sport Athletes

Objective:

To characterize and compare the sport-specific cardiac structure of elite swimmers (SW), water polo players (WP), and artistic swimmers (AS).

Design:

A cross-sectional assessment of elite aquatic athletes' hearts.

Setting:

The athletes' village at the 2019 FINA World Championships.

Participants:

Ninety athletes from swimming (SW) (20 M/17 F), water polo (WP) (21 M/9 F), and artistic swimming (AS) (23 F).

Assessment and Main Outcome Measures:

An echocardiographic assessment of cardiac structure was performed on noncompetition days.

Results:

Male SW displayed primarily eccentric volume-driven remodeling, whereas male WP had a greater incidence of pressure-driven concentric geometry (SW = 5%, WP = 25%) with elevated relative wall-thickness (RWT) (SW = 0.35 ± 0.04, WP = 0.44 ± 0.08, P

Source: Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine - September 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research