Sport-Specific Cardiac Adaptations: A Comparative Echocardiographic Analysis of Basketball, Volleyball, and Handball Athletes

Background: The "athlete's heart" syndrome encompasses structural and functional cardiac adaptations to chronic exercise. These sports impose unique hemodynamic loads, potentially leading to distinct remodeling patterns.Objective: This study aimed to compare central cardiovascular adaptations, both structural and functional, in elite male athletes from basketball, volleyball, and handball to identify sport-specific differences.Methods: Thirty male athletes (aged ۱۸-۲۵; n=۱۰ per sport group) participated in this cross-sectional study. All participants underwent comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography at rest and immediately following a maximal graded exercise test (GXT) on a treadmill. Key measured parameters included left ventricular (LV) dimensions, wall thickness, mass, ejection fraction (EF), stroke volume, and cardiac output. Data were analyzed using One-Way ANOVA or the Kruskal-Wallis test, with post-hoc analyses where appropriate.Results: While most parameters indicated a common adaptive athlete’s heart profile across all sports, significant sport-specific differences were found. Handball players exhibited a significantly higher heart rate post-GXT (۱۸۰.۱۱±۹.۴۵bpm) compared to both basketball and volleyball players (p<۰.۰۱). Furthermore, ejection fraction was significantly different between all groups at rest (p<۰.۰۵), with handball players also demonstrating a superior EF post-GXT compared to the other groups (p<۰.۰۵). A significant difference in left ventricular end-systolic dimension was also observed at rest between all three sports (p<۰.۰۰۱).Conclusion: The significant differences in post-exercise heart rate and ejection fraction, particularly in handball players, suggest that the pronounced upper-body and isometric components of handball impose a unique hemodynamic stress, leading to distinct functional adaptations. This underscores the importance of sport-specific interpretation of cardiac parameters in athletes.

کلیدواژه ها:

Athlete’s Heart ، Echocardiography ، Team Sports ، Cardiac Remodeling ، Exercise Test ، Hemodynamic Adaptation