Development of structural cardiac adaptation in basketball players.

Background: As specific features of the basketball player's myocardial structure and function are still rather poorly investigated, we aimed at comparing left ventricular (LV) echocardiographic indices in players of different age groups.

Methods: Male basketball players aged 8-13 years (n=31), 14-17 years (n=31) and 18-28 years (n=31) were examined using standard echocardiography. End-diastolic LV posterior wall thickness and internal diameter, as well as interventricular septum thickness, were measured by M-mode. Relative wall thickness was calculated by dividing the sum of the thicknesses of the interventricular septum and LV posterior wall by LV internal diameter. LV mass and ejection fraction were also calculated. The morphological LV parameters were corrected for body surface area. The peak early (E) and peak late (A) transmitral flow velocities were measured using pulsed Doppler, and the ratio (E/A) was calculated.

Results: Significant differences in the absolute internal LV diameter among the age groups disappeared after allometric scaling. However, relative wall thickness as well as body size indexed LV posterior wall thickness and LV mass were significantly greater in the adolescents and adults than in the children. Players of different age groups did not differ in the E/A ratio, while ejection fraction was elevated in adolescents.

Conclusions: Regular basketball training results in moderate cardiac hypertrophy in adolescents and adult athletes due to thickening of myocardial walls.