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Comparative study of ECG and echocardiographic parameters indicative of cardiac hypertrophy in athletes

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Abstract

The identification of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) through electrocardiographic voltage criteria has been widely studied in patients. However, their validity in “athlete’s heart” remains quite unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the most common electrocardiographic indices indicative of LVH compared to the known echocardiographic ones in athletes. The study group comprised 150 male adult competitive athletes (group A) and 50 sedentary participants (group B). Thirteen accepted electrocardiographic voltage criteria indicative of LVH were calculated and correlated with the common echocardiographic indices of left ventricular mass (LVM). Nine of the 13 ECG voltage criteria were significantly increased in athletes compared to controls. Statistically, the Sokolow–Lyon index, which is the most commonly used voltage index was found to be affected by the body mass index (10.7 %, p < 0.05), the group (7.3 %, p < 0.05) and systolic blood pressure (4.5 %, p < 0.05) in total variance of 16.6 % (p < 0.05). No electrocardiographic voltage criterion was significantly correlated with any echocardiographic index, except for the Cornell index that was correlated with end-diastolic volume index (r = 0.29, p < 0.05) and the Sokolow index (V6) with LVMI (r = 0.26, p < 0.05) in group A. We suggested that ECG voltage indices should not be considered valid when assessing LVH in athletes. Thus, the echocardiographic study is preferable in studying training-induced structural cardiac changes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sports Medicine Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Eleftherios Dimitros, Nikolaos Koutlianos, Maria Anifanti, Evangelia Kouidi & Asterios Deligiannis

  2. First Cardiology Department, AHEPA University Hospital, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Efstathios Pagourelias

  3. 75 Loutron Str, 57200, Lagadas, Greece

    Nikolaos Koutlianos

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  1. Eleftherios Dimitros
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  2. Nikolaos Koutlianos
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  3. Maria Anifanti
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  4. Efstathios Pagourelias
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  5. Evangelia Kouidi
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  6. Asterios Deligiannis
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Correspondence to Nikolaos Koutlianos.

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Dimitros, E., Koutlianos, N., Anifanti, M. et al. Comparative study of ECG and echocardiographic parameters indicative of cardiac hypertrophy in athletes. Sport Sci Health 8, 101–107 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-012-0136-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-012-0136-3

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