Echocardiographic findings in power athletes abusing anabolic androgenic steroids

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) abuse for improving physical appearance and performance in body builders is common and has been considered responsible for serious cardiovascular effects. Due to disagreement about cardiovascular side effects of these drugs in published articles, this case control study was designed to evaluate the echocardiographic findings in body builder athletes who are current and chronic abusers of these drugs.

Body builder athletes with continuous practice for the preceding two years and were training at least twice weekly were selected and divided into AAS abuser and non user and compared with age and BMI matched non athletic healthy volunteers (15 cases in each group).

There was no significant difference in left ventricular size or function either systolic or diastolic in comparison to cases and control groups. The only difference was in diastolic size of septum and free wall but observed differences were only significant (P = 0.05) between first (athletic with AAS abuser) and third group (non athletic and nonuser). The difference between the above-mentioned indexes were not significant between two groups of athletes.

Observed differences in diastolic size of septum and free wall is in favor of that long term abuse of anabolic steroid results in accentuation of physiologic hypertrophy due to long term sport most probably due to higher rate pressure product. Furthermore long term abuse and supra pharmacologic doses do not have significant effect in size and left ventricular function.