Abstract
The echocardiographic determination of left ventricular mass (LVM) and volume is of importance for the interpretation of cardiac adaptions and risk-stratification. In pathologically hypertrophied hearts, conventional one- and two-dimensional echocardiographic methods tend to overestimate LVM. For the athlete's heart, a comparison between different echocardiographic methods and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has not been performed so far. 23 healthy male endurance-athletes (28 ± 4 yr) with athlete's heart (A) and 26 healthy untrained males (U; 26 ± 4 yr) were examined by MRI and the following echocardiographic methods: ASE-Cube (ASE), Devereux (DEV), Troy (TRO), Teichholz (TEI), Reichek (REI) and Dickhuth (DIC). Indexed LVM were: MRI: 107 ± 6 g/m2 (A) 79 ± 7 g/m2 (U); ASE: 170 ± 20g/m2 (A), 119 ± 14 g/m2 (U); DEV: 134 ± 16 g/m2 (A), 95 ± 11 g/m2 (U); TRO: 134 ± 16 g/m2 (A), 92 ± 12 g/m2 (U); TEI: 115 ± 10 g/m2 (A), 91 ± 8 g/m2 (U); REI: 114 ± 14 g/m2 (A), 89 ± 11 g/m2 (U); DIC: 110 ± 14 g/m2 (A); 80 ± 9 g/m2 (U). In A and U, LVM is significantly overestimated by ASE, DEV, TRO, TEI, and REI compared to MRI (p < 0.05), but not by DIC. Although coefficients of correlation were similar, only DIC revealed acceptable limits of agreement (ASE: +20 to +172 g; DEV: -13 to +93 g; TRO: -18 to +92 g; TEI: -17 to +53 g; REI: -25 to +57 g; DIC: -37 to +45 g). Depending on the used method, LVM upper limits range between 93 (MRT) and 146 g/m2 (ASE) in U, and 119 (MRT) and 209 g/m2 (ASE) in A. Conclusion: Compared to MRI, DIC is the most accurate conventional echocardiographic method to determine LVM in U and A. For a correct interpretation of LVM, differences of the echocardiographic methods have to be considered.
Translated title of the contribution | Left ventricular mass in endurance-athletes with athlete's heart and untrained subjects - Comparison between different echocardiographic methods and MRI |
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Original language | German |
Pages (from-to) | 309-318 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Zeitschrift fur Kardiologie |
Volume | 92 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Athlete's heart
- Echocardiography
- Exercise
- Left ventricular mass
- Magnetic resonance imaging