Olympic Medical Research Reveals Enlarged Hearts Can Be Healthy Hearts

The findings come from two Olympic athlete research studies conducted since the Turin (Italy) 2006 Olympic Winter Games geared at demonstrating that health monitoring and early intervention may lead to injury prevention and enhanced health.

Dr. Malissa Wood, a cardiologist from Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA, USA), announced that their work with Olympic athletes have allowed them to identify healthy patterns of heart enlargement that can differentiate it from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Previously, it was believed that heart size is indicative of risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD); however, Dr. Wood's research with the U.S. weightlifting and men's rowing teams has shown that it is the health of the systolic or blood-pumping action--not the heart size--that is the distinguishing factor of a healthy heart. This study is being conducted using GE Healthcare's (Chalfont St. Giles, UK) Vivid i cardiac compact ultrasound technology.

"As a result of these findings, we are in the process of developing a cardiac fitness index to be released later this year that will help trainers and coaches understand how cardiac conditions impact performance of high-endurance athletes,” said Dr. Wood. "Our work also will provide healthcare professionals with insight into new, more effective ways of assessing and treating heart disease for the general public.”

Since 2005, Dr. Marnix van Holsbeeck, from the Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI, USA), has been studying how ultrasound scans can identify weaknesses in an athlete's musculoskeletal structure before an injury occurs. Early findings from this research has demonstrated an incidence of asymptomatic injuries in several of the athletes, in a higher than expected incidence in female athletes. This study is being conducted with athletes from the U.S. weightlifting, boxing, and the U.S. women's national soccer teams using GE Healthcare's LOGIQ i ultrasound technology.

"We were surprised to find that athletes who trained at the highest level with no sign of pain showed early signs of potential injury during routine scanning,” said Dr. van Holsbeeck. "We've found that ultrasound technology can highlight problems with structure and with mobility of tissues that no other examination technique can show.”

"We train so hard as athletes that little injuries can lead to further injuries,” said Heather Mitts, defender on the U.S. women's national soccer team, who participated in Dr. van Holsbeeck's research study. "Through these routine scans, we can know if we should sit out, but if we know that we can keep going, we can train at the highest level.”

"If we can move toward predictive healthcare and early detection of disease, we have the potential to dramatically reduce the risks of late-stage disease treatment,” said Omar Ishrak, president and CEO Clinical Systems, GE Healthcare. "Shifting resources to develop technologies that allow healthcare providers to diagnose disease at the earliest possible stage, when there can be many treatment options, is better medicine,” added Ishrak.

GE is the exclusive provider of a wide range of systems and services that are integral to staging a successful Olympic games. GE works closely with host countries, cities, and organizing committees to provide infrastructure systems for Olympic venues including power, lighting, water treatment, transportation, security, and to supply hospitals with ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment to help doctors treat athletes.

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Massachusetts General Hospital
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Henry Ford Health System