[Structural and functional changes in the of heart of high-performance (canoeing) athletes]

We studied two groups of healthy subjects: Group I was integrated by 13 high-performance sportsmen (10 men and 3 women), devoted to the discipline of the rowing. Group II was integrated by 16 sedentary healthy subjects. All of them were studied with a two-dimensional echocardiogram, in order to study the anatomical and functional characteristics of the heart. Both groups had similar characteristics in regard of total body area, heart rate and blood pressure, the only difference was in age. The ventricular mass and the diastolic volume were greater in athletes in spite of the fact that the dimensions and transverse thicknesses were similar, this imply a longitudinal increase of the heart size. It is possible that this form of ventricular remodeling has functional advantages. On the other hand, it was demonstrated the existence of physiological hypertrophy without disorders in diastolic function.