Myocardial Mechanics in Athlete's Heart

Echocardiographic assessment of the endurance athletes' heart remains challenging due to a phenotypic overlap between reactive physiological adaptation and pathological remodelling. The lower range of normal values of lLeft ventricle systolic ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) in athletes makes it difficult to differentiate changes related to adaptive remodelling or indicative of early cardiomyopathy. This study aims to improve the assessment of athletes' hearts by identifying echocardiographic phenotypes, using a speckle tracking including temporal deformation pattern and layer-specific approach, and to define predictive factors of subtle LV systolic dysfunction and of mechanical LV abnormalities.