The relationship between left ventricular structure and function in the elite rugby football league athlete as determined by conventional echocardiography and myocardial strain imaging

Abstract Aims The aims of this study were to establish the left ventricular (LV) phenotype in rugby football league (RFL) athletes and to mathematically model the association between LV size, strain (ɛ) and ejection fraction (EF). Methods and results 139 male athletes underwent echocardiographic LV evaluation including ɛ imaging. Non-athletic males were used for comparison. All absolute and scaled structural indices were significantly larger (P  Conclusion Normal EF is explained by divergent effects of LV internal diastolic dimension (LVIDd) and mean wall thickness (MWT) on LV function. Reductions in SR and twist may be part of normal physiological LV adaptation in RFL athletes.