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Oral Abstract Session: Epidemiology and sports cardiology, European journal of cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation, Volume 17, Issue 2_suppl, 1 May 2010, Pages S59–S60, https://doi.org/10.1177/17418267100170s218
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295 Prevalence and clinical significance of aortic root dilatation in highly-trained, competitive athletes
B Di Giacinto, E De Blasiis, FM Di Paolo, FM Quattrini, C Pisicchio, E Guerra, R Ciardo, A Pelliccia
Institute of Sport Medicine and Science, CONI, Rome, Italy
Topic: Sports cardiology
Purpose: Prevalence, clinical significance, and long-term consequences of aortic root (AoR) dilatation in competitive athletes are not yet investigated. Our aim was to assess the distribution and determinants of AoR size in a large population of competitive athletes.
Methods: AoR dimension were assessed by echocardiography in 2,361 athletes participating in 48 different sports. Of them, 44 were excluded because aortic structural abnormalities, such as bicuspid aortic valve, Marfan's Syndrome, aortic prosthesis. the remaining 2,317, including 1,300 (56%) males and 1,017 (44%) females were the study population. Arbitrary cut-off of =40 mm, according to #36th Bethesda Conference, was used as upper normal limits for AoR.
Results: In males AoR was 32.2±2.7 mm (range 23–44) and the 95th percentile was 37 mm. In females AoR was 27.5 ± 2.6 mm (20–36) and the 95th percentile was 32 mm. Multiple regression and covariance analysis showed AoR dimension largely explained by body surface area, left ventricular mass and age (R2 = 0.61), with type of sports participation having only a modest effect. the AoR was >40 mm in 2,300 athletes (99%), and = 40 mm in only 17 (1%), all male. In this subset, aortic dimension increased over a 8±5 year follow-up (40.9±1.3 to 42.9±3.6 mm; p >0.01), including 3 former athletes in whom AoR become dilated (to 50 mm, 50 mm and 48 mm) after 15–16 years, in the absence of symptoms or evidence of systemic disease.
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