Athletic Heart Syndrome

In brief: Regular exercise training results in a variety of cardiovascular adaptations including increases in left ventricular chamber size and wall thickness, and in resting vagal tone. These anatomic and physiologic changes may produce abnormalities in the ECG and echocardiogram. In the past, physicians often interpreted these changes as pathologic and advised cessation of training. But modern research has demonstrated that the cardiovascular changes are physiologic and are associated with preserved or enhanced cardiovascular function. It is important, however, to distinguish this physiologic hypertrophy from the pathologic hypertrophy of such conditions as obstructive cardiomyopathy.