Echocardiographic dimensions and maximal oxygen uptake in elite soccer players.

OBJECTIVE To assess cardiac dimensions in elite Saudi soccer players, and to correlate these measurements with maximal oxygen uptake. METHODS Twenty-three soccer players representing the Saudi National soccer team, and 19 untrained males participated in this study. Cardiac dimensions were measured by M-mode echocardiography, and maximal oxygen uptake was assessed by open-circuit spirometry during treadmill running. RESULTS When compared with age-matched untrained males, soccer players appeared to have significantly (P < 0.05) greater values (mm.m-2) in left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (28.8 +/- 2.7 vs 26.5 +/- 2.3), right ventricular cavity (14.1 +/- 2.5 vs 11.8 +/- 2.6), left atrial cavity (16.7 +/- 1.6 vs 14.9 +/- 2.2) and left ventricular mass (117.4 +/- 21.2 vs 89.0 +/- 16.0 g.m-2). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in left ventricular posterior wall (5.3 +/- 0.77 vs 5.3 +/- 0.61) or in interventricular septum (5.5 +/- 0.65 vs 5.2 +/- 0.59). When soccer players were grouped by playing position, there were no significant differences in cardiac dimensions between the players, though the midfielders and the full-backs showed the highest values for left ventricular cavity and maximal oxygen uptake. Further, maximal oxygen uptake relative to body mass (ml.kg.(-1) min(-1)) exhibited a significant correlation with left ventricular cavity normalized to either body mass (r = 0.62; P <0.01), or to body surface area (r = 0.53; P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The elite Saudi soccer players appear to have significantly greater left ventricular cavity and mass than age-matched untrained males. Such cardiac adaptation seems to result from the highly dynamic nature of the soccer game.