Effects of Sports Activity in Athletes with Bicuspid Aortic Valve and Mild Aortic Regurgitation

Objective: In this study, the impact of regular training on left ventricle morphology in a group of athletes with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) was evaluated.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study. A group of competitive athletes with BAV was followed up with a yearly standard echocardiographic examination for 5 years.

Setting: Sport Medicine Centre, University of Florence, Pre-Participation Protocol Study.

Participants: A group of 88 consecutive athletes diagnosed with BAV was identified in the period January to December 1999, and 30 of these completed a 5-year follow-up. They were compared with a group of 56 athletes with a normal tricuspid valve (TAV).

Results: BAV athletes showed significant progressive increase in left ventricular dimensions and aortic diameters at four levels. The values were within the range of the general and non-athletic BAV populations. In TAV athletes, the aortic and left ventricle dimensions did not increase significantly and remained within physiological range.

Conclusions: Left ventricular dimensions in competitive BAV athletes remain within the normal range. There is, however, a significant progressive increase in the BAV group compared with the TAV group. These results are in agreement with data obtained in previous studies on the non-athletic BAV population. Sports activity does not have an additional effect on cardiac morphology in athletes with asymptomatic BAV associated with mild regurgitation, for at least 5 years.