Cardiac Structural and Electrical Adaptation in Male Active Athletes. QT Interval Could it be the Clue to Sudden Cardiac Death?

Background and Aim: In humans, cardiac morphological adaptations to athletes training have been exhaustively described. Top-level training is often associated with morphological changes in the heart, including increases in left ventricular chamber size, wall thickness, and mass. The increase in left ventricular mass because of training is called athlete s heart. Left ventricular structural changes in competitive athletes represent adaptation to hemodynamic overload induced by training and are consisted with different kinds of sport activity. Work capacity during exercise is positively influenced by preload increase in top-level endurance athletes, while increased after load due do isometric training in strengthtrained athletes determines higher systemic resistance due do physical effect. This work aimed to study the effects of prolonged physical training on the structure of the heart.