Cardiovascular and Musculoskeletal Assessment of Elite US Volleyball Players.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to characterize the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems of elite volleyball players, including aortic dimensions. Previous studies have shown that the upper limit of normal aortic sinus diameter for male and female athletes is 4 and 3.4 cm, respectively. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. SETTING: United States Olympic Volleyball Training Facility and Rady Children's Hospital San Diego. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy (37 male) members of the US national volleyball team. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Athletes underwent evaluation that included medical and family histories, targeted physical examinations specifically focusing on abnormalities present in Marfan syndrome (MFS), and transthoracic echocardiograms. Cardiac chamber and great artery size, valve function, and coronary artery origins were assessed. RESULTS: Three male athletes (8%) had an aortic sinus diameter ≥4 cm, one of whom also had an ascending aorta >4 cm. Two female athletes (6%) had aortic sinus diameter ≥3.4 cm, and another had an ascending aorta of 3.4 cm. There were no other intracardiac or arterial abnormalities. Individual musculoskeletal characteristics of MFS were common among the athletes but not more frequent or numerous in those with aortic dilation. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of aortic root dilation in this population of athletes was higher than what has previously been reported in other similar populations. Further study is needed to determine whether these represent pathological changes or normal variations in tall athletes. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study adds to the existing knowledge base of athlete's heart, with specific attention to aortic dimensions in elite volleyball players. The data are relevant to similar athletes' medical care and to preparticipation cardiac screening in general.

Conversion to digital technology improves efficiency in the pediatric echocardiography laboratory.

BACKGROUND: Although the videotape method (VTM) is commonly used to record and intrepret ecocardiographic images, many pediatric echocardiographers are considering acquiring to, interpreting from, and storing their images to digital disk using the single-beat digital acquisition method (SBM). The paucity of image redundancy using SBM should translate into improved laboratory efficiency compared with VTM, but hard data are lacking. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the time to acquire images to videotape using VTM and to disk using SBM would be the same for normal hearts and corresponding congenital heart diseases, but interpretation times would be shorter using SBM. METHODS: We measured the times to acquire and interpret 403 echocardiograms using standard VTM from Children's Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, and 352 echocardiograms acquired using SBM from Children's Hospital in San Diego, Calif. Diagnostic categories at each site included: (1) normal, (2) simple shunt or isolated valve disease, and (3) multiple-lesion disease. RESULTS: As a group, SBM echocardiograms included more hemodynamic measurements and took more time to acquire (P <.037), but less time to read (P <.001) than corresponding images acquired using VTM. Using SBM, it took more time to acquire normals and isolated valve or shunt lesions, whereas the average time to acquire multiple-lesion disease was the same using both VTM and SBM. With SBM, in contrast, interpretation times were significantly less for all corresponding diagnoses. CONCLUSION: SBM studies took longer to acquire because more hemodynamic measurements were acquired, but they were read in less time than corresponding VTM studies even though all videotapes were replayed in search fast-forward mode. Pediatric echocardiographers can increase their laboratory efficiency by converting from VTM to SBM.