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Left ventricular hypertrophy in athletes: How to differentiate between hypertensive heart disease and athlete’s heart

2020; Oxford University Press; Volume: 28; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/2047487320911850

2047-4881

Flavio D’Ascenzi, C Fiorentini, Francesca Anselmi, Sergio Mondillo,

Cardiomyopathy and Myosin Studies

Athlete's heart is typically accompanied by a remodelling of the cardiac chambers induced by exercise. However, although competitive athletes are commonly considered healthy, they can be affected by cardiac disorders characterised by an increase in left ventricular mass and wall thickness, such as hypertension. Unfortunately, training-induced increase in left ventricular mass, wall thickness, and atrial and ventricular dilatation observed in competitive athletes may mimic the pathological remodelling of pathological hypertrophy. As a consequence, distinguishing between athlete's heart and hypertension can sometimes be challenging. The present review aimed to focus on the differential diagnosis between hypertensive heart disease and athlete's heart, providing clinical information useful to distinguish between physiological and pathological remodelling.