ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: There is great public and scientific interest in the status of exercise and physical fitness among the preadolescent and adults. The physical activities should increase to intervene health problems since it emphasizes wellness and promotes self-awareness. Heart is the only organ facing overload of the regular physical exercise. The structure of athletes' heart or physiological variations associated with training leading to left ventricular hypertrophy has been referred as Athlete’s Heart syndrome. Methods: To evaluate the prevalence and importance of "physiological" left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in athletes, the electrocardiographic and echo-cardio graphic parameters of 40 track and field runners were studied. Results: Electrocardiographic evidence of resting bradycardia, LVH, present in athletes, was associated with concomitant echo-cardio graphic evidence of a thickened left ventricular (LV) posterior wall, with an enlarged end-diastolic LV diameter. Cardiac hypertrophy and dilatation commonly develop in well-conditioned athletes. Interpretation & conclusion: Enlargement (increase in diameter by echocardiography) in the left ventricular cavity associated with physiological LVH characterized by increased voltage in ECG & posterior wall and IVS by echo-cardio graphic thickness play important role in maintaining optimal cardiac performance during training as well as competition and normal cardiac performance at rest.