CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF THE ATHLETES HEART IN PREPUBERTAL MALE RUNNERS

Cardiac findings in adult endurance athletes are well characterized, b ut data regarding the ''athlete's heart'' in children are limited. Thi s study evaluated cardiovascular features of 10 male prepubertal dista nce runners ages 11-13 years compared to 18 physically active but untr ained boys. Mean VO(2)max values on treadmill testing for the two grou ps were 61.2 (3.2) and 51.1 (4.3) ml.kg(-1).min(-1), respectively. No significant differences in the frequency of carotid bruits, cervical v enous hums, heart murmurs, or third and fourth heart sounds were obser ved between the groups. Mean resting heart rate was 71 (9) bpm for the runners and 73 (8) for the controls (p > 0.05). No significant differ ences were seen in EKG intervals, axes, or precordial voltages between runners and controls, and echocardiographic chamber sizes, wall thick nesses, and mass indexed to body surface area were also similar (p > 0 .05). This study failed to identify clinical features of the ''athlete 's heart'' in competitive child endurance runners compared to non-trai ned subjects.