Race Differences in Ventricular Remodeling and Function Among College Football Players

Athletic training is associated with increases in ventricular mass and volume. Recent studies have shown that left ventricular mass increases proportionally in white athletes with a mass/volume ratio approaching unity. The objective of this study was to compare the proportionality in ventricular remodeling and ventricular function in black versus white National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football players. From 2008 to 2011, football players at Stanford University underwent cardiovascular screening with a 12-point history and physical examination, electrocardiography, and focused echocardiography. Compared with white players, black players had on average higher left ventricular mass indexes (77 ± 11 vs 71 ± 11 g/m2, p = 0.009), higher mass/volume ratios (1.18 ± 0.16 vs 1.06 ± 0.09 g/ml, p <0.001), and higher QRS vector magnitudes (3.2 ± 0.7 vs 2.7 ± 0.8, p = 0.002). Black race had an odds ratio of 14 (95% confidence interval 5 to 42, p <0.001) for a mass/volume ratio >1.2. Mass/volume ratio was inversely related to early diastolic tissue Doppler velocity e′ (r = −0.50, p <0.001) but not to QRS vector magnitude (r = 0.065, p = 0.034). With regard to systolic indexes, there was no significant difference in the left ventricular ejection fraction, velocity of circumferential shortening, and isovolumic acceleration. In conclusion, black college football players exhibit more concentric ventricular remodeling, lower early diastolic annular velocities, and increased ventricular voltage compared with white players. Ventricular mass increases proportionally to volume in white players but not in black players.