Assessment of functional and morphological changes of the athletes ́heart -a systematic review
Abstract
Introduction: athletes are subjected to intense physical exertion. As a result, the heart responds with several morphological and functional alterations that allow the body to reach its peak performance. These changes, known as hemodynamic adaptations, are a result of the timing, frequency and intensity of the training. These hemodynamic adaptations occur differently in each athlete. Objective: to evaluate, through the review of a systematic literature, what are the morphological and functional alterations that happen in the heart of an athlete. In addition, asses if these alterations are either a physiological process of the heart that maintains a good cardiac performance when overloaded with blood circulation; or if they are pathological alterations that are related to the physical exertion.Methodology: systematic review of a computerized database that includes Google Scholar, Scielo and Pubmed. These databases were used to analyze the morphology and function of the hearts of highly trained athletes.Results: morphologically, the athletes' hearts were larger in its total and internal diameter, the posterior wall and interventricular septum were thicker; and there was an increase in the ventricular mass of the left ventricle. The cardiac function was similar between athletes and non-athletes.Discussion: “The athletes' heart” presents a variety of alterations that are a result of the type of training that the athlete endures. A strong training program is going to improve the heart's ability to work as a pump and the cardiovascular system to provide oxygen to the muscles that are being exercised. These adaptions can develop as a compensatory process or as an adaption to the hemodynamic stimulus that is created by the volume and/or pressure of blood in the heart. However, the heart's systolic and diastolic function did not change. Conclusion: The athletes’ physical training, which requires high intensity and regularity, is associated with cardiac morphological changes. Some of the changes are the increase in the left ventricle's cavity, in its wall thickness and mass. However, the cardiac function inboth athletes and non-athletes did not change drastically. In other words, there were no loses in the heart's functionally.
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