Endurance rather than sprint running training increases left ventricular wall thickness in female athletes

Competitive athletics is often associated with moderate left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy. The aim of this study was to shed more light on the extent and type of cardiac hypertrophic response to different athletic conditioning in females. Standard two-dimensional M-mode and Doppler echocardiography was performed at rest in Caucasian female sprinters (n = 10) and long-distance runners (n = 10) of similar age (range 16–34 years), training experience (5–18 years) and competitive level, and in age-matched healthy female sedentary controls (n = 10). No differences in echocardiographic parameters were detected between female sprinters and sedentary controls (p > 0.05). Interventricular septum and LV wall (p 0.05), though relative LV diameter was higher in long-distance runners as compared to sprinters (p 0.05). In conclusion, sprint running training has not been found to induce alterations in cardiac morphology or function at rest in female athletes. Cardiac mass in female long-distance runners is higher mainly due to myocardial wall thickening, while integral myocardial function at rest is not affected as a consequence of either this hypertrophy or sprint training.