Echocardiographic Aspects of North-African Male and Female Soccer Players in Morocco

Aims: Intense and prolonged sports activities lead to cardiovascular adaptations known as "athlete's heart." Our study aimed to explore the echocardiographic characteristics of athlete's heart in North African soccer players.

Methods: This descriptive study was conducted by the Non-Invasive Explorations Department at the Rabat Military Hospital and focused on 53 category A players from the men’s and women’s soccer teams of the “Force Armed Royal” sports association. The research analyzed various parameters, including the end-diastolic diameter and parietal thickness of the left ventricle, the basal diameter of the right ventricle, atrial surface areas, as well as the systolic and diastolic functions of the LV.

Results: The average age of the participants was 23.5 ± 4 years, with 35.8% (19) being women and 64.2% (34) being men. Left ventricular dilatation was observed in 17% (9) of the players, with an average diameter of 44 ± 4 mm in women and 52 ± 4 mm in men. 39.6% (21) of the players had right ventricle dilatation. The left ventricular systolic function varied from 51% to 76%, with 7.5% (4) of players displaying mildly reduced systolic function. When comparing the two genders, men had a significantly larger right ventricular diameter and a greater left ventricular end-diastolic diameter than women, with p-values of <0.001 and 0.038, respectively.

Conclusion: In our study, the predominant findings were dilatation of the left cardiac chambers without any associated ventricular hypertrophy, while left ventricular ejection fraction remained preserved and diastolic function was notably supranormal. These results are consistent with existing literature, particularly studies involving footballers that share similar characteristics to our cohort.