Sports in Covid-19 times: Heart alert

Resumption of sports practice not preceded by adequate pre-participation cardiac evaluation in athletes affected by COVID-19 may be a thoughtless decision which exposes them to the risk of sudden cardiac death. There is still no conclusive data regarding the safety of high-performance sports in this specific population because during vigorous exercise, they might present malignant arrhythmias secondary to myocardial injury with bad outcomes. Sports teams and organizations are responsible for taking care of their athletes and staff, promoting adequate screening for cardiac sequelae (especially myocarditis), because cardiac events can occur during matches, training or even at rest. Further studies are needed to demonstrate data analysis from clinical and complementary exams in this population, which should base the recommendations for a safe return to sports practice. So far, we should consider the risk of myocarditis in athletes with previous diagnosis of COVID-19 and follow the current recommendations for evaluating athletes with myocarditis.
© Copyright 2020 Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia. Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia. All rights reserved.

Bibliographic Details
Subjects:
Notations:biological and medical sciences
Tagging:Coronavirus
Published in:Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia
Language:English
Published: 2020
Online Access:https://www.scielo.br/pdf/abc/v115n3/en_0066-782X-abc-115-03-303.pdf
Volume:115
Issue:3
Pages:303-307
Document types:article
Level:advanced