Athlete’s Heart

Discussion on Athlete’s Heart. Athlete’s heart denotes structural, functional and electrical remodeling seen in trained athletes. It is a physiological adaptation helping athletes perform physical tasks better than non-athletes. Though most of the findings in athlete’s heart are related to the left ventricle, changes do occur in the right ventricle as well.
During aerobic exercise which is isotonic, the heart rate and stroke volume increases. Systemic vascular resistance falls, but slight to moderate increase in blood pressure can occur due to the increased cardiac output.
As the cardiac output increases, it is mostly a volume overload situation and left ventricle can develop eccentric hypertrophy with enlargement of cavity and proportionate increase in wall thickness.