Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing and Cardiac Biomarker Measurements in Young Football Players: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Constant and intense physical activity causes physiological adaptive changes in the human body, but it can also become a trigger for adverse events, such as sudden cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death. Our main objective was to assess the use of combined cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and cardiac biomarker determinants in young professional athletes. We conducted a study which involved the full examination of 19 football players, all male, aged between 18 and 20 years old. They underwent standard clinical and paraclinical evaluation, a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Afterwards, a tailored CPET was performed and peripheral venous blood samples were taken before and 3 h after the test in order to determine five biomarker levels at rest and post-effort. The measured biomarkers were cardiac troponin I (cTnI), myoglobin (Myo), the MB isoenzyme of creatine-kinase (CK-MB), the N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and D-dimers. While cTnI and NT-proBNP levels were undetectable both at rest and post-effort in all subjects, the variations in Myo, CK-MB and D-dimers showed significant correlations with CPET parameters. This highlights the potential use of combined CPET and biomarker determinants to evaluate professional athletes, and encourages further research on larger study groups.

Longer-Term Effects of Cardiac Telerehabilitation on Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The peak VO 2 in CPET is 1 of the most critical and gold-standard indicators of cardiorespiratory fitness in patients with CVD, representing the maximum oxygen intake by the human body per unit body weight (mL/kg/minute). Peak VO 2 reflects cardiopulmonary function in transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide around the body [ 37 ], the maximum aerobic metabolic capacity [ 38 ], and the skeletal muscles’ ability to absorb and use oxygen [ 39 ]. Our study confirms that compared to center-based CR training, cardiac telerehabilitation can significantly improve long-term peak VO 2 in patients.…”

Cardiac Biomarkers in Sports Cardiology

“…This is explainable as neither of them suffered from any form of cardiac dysfunction (therefore explaining the lack of detectable NT-proBNP samples), nor did any of them develop ischemic changes during the exercise, which would otherwise show higher troponin values. However, a few correlations were established between the variations of the D-Dimers, CK-MB, and myoglobin levels and the parameters of the CPET [108].…”