Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesCross-sectional study
Echocardiographic Characterization of Major League Soccer Players
- cross-sectional echocardiographic study
- standardized transthoracic echocardiography protocols in accordance with American Society of Echocardiography guidelines
Authors' conclusion
Increased cardiac dimensions and concentric remodeling patterns are frequently present in professional soccer athletes. These findings provide sport-specific echocardiographic reference data that may assist clinicians in distinguishing physiologic athletic remodeling from cardiovascular pathology in elite soccer athletes.
Study context
- Population
- Male Major League Soccer athletes screened during the 2018 to 2023 seasonsmale Major League Soccer athletes
- Participants
- 1,368 athletes
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Age
Age range
21 to 39 years
Mean age
25.8 [3.7] years
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Race/ethnicity
- Black
- 324/1,368 (23.7%)
- Hispanic
- 392/1,368 (28.7%)
- White
- 623/1,368 (45.5%)
Increased left ventricular (LV) internal diameter in diastole (>58 mm)
- Athletes with increased LV internal diameter in diastole
- 115/1,368 athletes (8.5%; 95% CI: 7.0%-10.0%)
Right ventricular enlargement
- Athletes with right ventricular enlargement
- 262/878 athletes (29.8%; 95% CI: 26.8%-32.8%)
LV mass index
- Mean LV mass index
- 97.2 [16.9] g/m² (95% CI: 96.3-98.1)
LV hypertrophy
- Athletes meeting the criteria for LV hypertrophy
- 187/1,326 athletes (14.1%; 95% CI: 12.2%-16.0%)
LV geometry
- Eccentric hypertrophy
- 127/1,326 athletes (9.6%)
- Concentric hypertrophy
- 60/1,326 athletes (4.5%)
- Concentric remodeling
- 241/1,326 athletes (18.2%)
Original publication
Echocardiographic Characterization of Major League Soccer Players. JACC Adv. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.102945
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it