Abstract

Introduction: “Athlete’s heart syndrome” is a condition characterized by structural, electrophysiologic and functional adaptation of the myocardium to physical activity (training), depending on the activity intensity, duration and type. In athletes left ventricular hypertrophy often resembles comorbid conditions (hypertension or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) so the differential diagnosis of the disease is very important and crucial, especially in people who are in active training. In fact, if an athlete has finding which indicate thickening of the left ventricle walls, should be distinguished hypertrophy which occurred as a result of many years of training from accidental existence of hypertension or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the same person. Therefore, it is important to make a diagnostic difference between healthy and sick heart. Material and methods: The study involved male persons aged 20-45 which have increased muscle mass of the left ventricle due to different etiology. Definite sample included 80 respondents divided into two groups. All respondent underwent interview, clinical examination, ECG and echocardiography. Results: Average systolic blood pressure (SBP) for the athletes were 115.8±7.2 mmHg, and in patients, with hypertension 154.4±3.5 mmHg, average values of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) for the athletes were 74.2±8.1 mmHg in patients, hypertensive 96.2 ± 3.9 mmHg. Values of SBP and DBP were significantly lower in the group of athletes compared to patients with hypertension (p=0.001). The value of the SFO/min was significantly lower in the group of athletes compared to patients with hypertension (p

Key words: Athlete’s heart syndrome, hypertension, electrocardiography, echocardiography.