Echocardiographic dimensions and maximal oxygen uptake in elite soccer players

ABSTRACT

To assess cardiac dimensions in elite Saudi soccer players, and to correlate these measurements with maximal oxygen uptake. Twenty-three soccer players representing the Saudi National soccer team, and 19 untrained males participated in this study. Cardiac dimensions were measured by M-mode echocardiography, and maximal oxygen uptake was assessed by open-circuit spirometry during treadmill running. When compared with age-matched untrained males, soccer players appeared to have significantly [P<0.05] greater values [mm.m-2] in left ventricular end-diastolic dimension [28.8 +/- 2.7 vs 26.5 +/- 2.3], right ventricular cavity [14.1 +/- 2.5 vs 11.8 +/- 2.6], left atrial cavity [16.7 +/- 1.6 vs 14.9 +/- 2.2] and left ventricular mass [117.4 +/- 21.2 vs 89.0 +/- 16.0 g.m-2]. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in left ventricular posterior wall [5.3 +/- 0.77 vs 5.3 +/- 0.61] or in interventricular septum [5.5 +/- 0.65 vs 5.2 +/- 0.59]. When soccer players were grouped by playing position, there were no significant differences in cardiac dimensions between the players, though the midfielders and the full-backs showed the highest values for left ventricular cavity and maximal oxygen uptake. Further, maximal oxygen uptake relative to body mass [ml.kg.-1 min-1] exhibited a significant correlation with left ventricular cavity normalized to either body mass [r = 0.62; P <0.01], or to body surface area [r = 0.53; P < 0.05]. The elite Saudi soccer players appear to have significantly greater left ventricular cavity and mass than age-matched untrained males. Such cardiac adaptation seems to result from the highly dynamic nature of the soccer game