HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Request Reprints Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Basilico, F. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Basilico, F. C.

Cardiovascular Disease in Athletes

W. T. Nessa, MD, Center for Sports Cardiology, New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

* Address correspondence and reprint requests to Frederick C. Basilico, MD, Chief, Section of Cardiology, New England Baptist Hospital, 125 Parker Hill Avenue, Boston, MA 02120

As a physician, coach, or trainer, we see athletes as healthy, physically fit, and able to tolerate extremes of physical endurance. It seems improbable that such athletes may have, on occasion, underlying life-threatening cardiovascular abnormalities. Regular physical activity promulgates cardiovascular fitness and lowers the risk of cardiac disease. However, under intense physical exertion and with a substrate of significant cardiac disease—whether congenital or acquired—athletes may succumb to sudden cardiac death. The deaths of high-profile athletes receive much attention through the national news media, but there are also deaths of other athletes. With repetitive, intense physical exercise, the heart undergoes functional and morphologic changes. Knowledge of those changes may help one identify cardiovascular abnormalities that can cause sudden death from the heart known as an "athlete’s heart." This article will review cardiovascular diseases that may limit an athlete’s participation in sports and that may put an athlete at risk for sudden cardiac death. It also reviews the extent and limitations of the cardiovascular preparticipation screening examination. Team physicians, coaches, and trainers must understand the process of evaluation of a symptomatic athlete that may indicate significant cardiac abnormalities. Finally, guidelines to determine eligibility of athletes with cardiovascular disease to return to sports will be reviewed.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C W Fuller, E O Ojelade, and A Taylor Preparticipation medical evaluation in professional sport in the UK: theory or practice? Br. J. Sports Med., December 1, 2007; 41(12): 890 - 896. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F Pigozzi, A Spataro, A Alabiso, A Parisi, M Rizzo, F Fagnani, V Di Salvo, G Massazza, and N Maffulli Role of exercise stress test in master athletes Br. J. Sports Med., August 1, 2005; 39(8): 527 - 531. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. E. Coris, F. Sahebzamani, S. Walz, and A. M. Ramirez Automated External Defibrillators in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Athletics Am. J. Sports Med., April 1, 2004; 32(3): 744 - 754. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Goldschlager, A. E. Epstein, B. P. Grubb, B. Olshansky, E. Prystowsky, W. C. Roberts, M. M. Scheinman, and for the Practice Guidelines Subcommittee, North Am Etiologic Considerations in the Patient With Syncope and an Apparently Normal Heart Arch Intern Med, January 27, 2003; 163(2): 151 - 162. [Full Text] [PDF]