COVID-19 and elite sport: Cardiovascular implications and return-to-play

Faghy, Mark A; Ashton, Ruth; Parizher, Gary; Smith, Andy; Arena, Ross; Gough, Lewis A.; Emery, Michael S.

doi:10.1016/j.pcad.2022.11.014

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, it appears mandatory to perform CPET in athletes with PEM and persistent exercise intolerance to provide additional objective criteria for the definition of long-COVID-19 syndrome [ 38 ]. Post/long-COVID-19 is defined as the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms that last for at least two months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis three months after a diagnosis of COVID-19; insufficient objective data on exercise limitations exist in athletes [ 39 ]. Furthermore, no data are available on a potential detrimental effect of continued high-intensity training in (both elite and recreational) athletes with PEM and persistent exercise intolerance, which may foster continued inflammation and viral persistence, which has been shown in long-COVID-19 patients [ 9 , 32 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiopulmonary Profiling of Athletes with Post-Exertional Malaise after COVID-19 Infection—A Single-Center Experience

Wernhart

Weihe

Totzeck

et al. 2023

JCM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

(1) Background: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) has been suggested by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) for assessing the exercise limitations of apparently healthy individuals, but data on elite athletes regarding this test are scarce. (2) Methods: We analyzed CPET in elite (n = 43, 21.9 ± 3.7 years) and recreational (n = 40, 34.7 ± 13.0 years) athletes with persistent subjective exercise intolerance and post-exertional malaise (PEM) after COVID-19 infection. The primary outcome was the point prevalence of the adequate cardiopulmonary response (ACPR), defined by the presence of all of the following ESC criteria for apparently healthy individuals: (1) >100% of predicted peak oxygen consumption (predVO2peak), (2) VE/VCO2 < 30, (3) no exercise oscillatory ventilation (EOV), and (4) heart rate recovery of ≥12 beats/minute 1 min after exercise termination (HRR1). Results: ACPR occurred more frequently in elite athletes than in recreational athletes (70.0% vs. 39.5%; p = 0.005), mainly driven by the lower VE/VCO2 (<30: 97.7% vs. 65%, p < 0.001). Elite (11.6%) and recreational athletes (22.5%) showing a plateau of O2 pulse did not display ACPR. Conclusions: ACPR was not observed in all recreational and elite athletes with PEM. In particular, perturbed VE/VCO2 and the plateauing of O2 pulse are suitable for quantifying exercise limitations and may identify a high-risk population with long-COVID-19 syndrome who require their training intensities to be adapted.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiopulmonary Profiling of Athletes with Post-Exertional Malaise after COVID-19 Infection—A Single-Center Experience

Wernhart

Weihe

Totzeck

et al. 2023

JCM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, cardiovascular problems caused by COVID-19 in the general population alerted medical experts to turn their attention toward the effect of the infection on the cardiovascular function of professional athletes. The main concern was the possibility of developing myocarditis as one of the causes of sudden cardiac death in sports [14]. The above-mentioned concerns indicated the need for more detailed medical examinations, which included transthoracic 2D echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, lung function examination, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and a detailed biochemistry analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other words, both the health status and the functional capacity of athletes must be evaluated to safely return them to regular training sessions after SARS-CoV-2 infection [12,13]. Accordingly, the post-COVID-19 pre-participation protocol has changed in favor of more detailed medical examinations [14,17]. Considering all the above, the aim of the study was to evaluate the cardiorespiratory status of professional athletes after suffering from COVID-19, as well as the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on their cardiorespiratory fitness, by conducting cardiopulmonary exercise testing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impaired Cardiorespiratory Fitness of Elite Athletes after Asymptomatic or Mild SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Stojmenović,

Marković

2024

Medicina

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the health status of professional athletes after recovering from COVID-19 and the impact that SARS-CoV-2 had on their overall cardiorespiratory fitness, which was done by conducting cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Materials and Methods: A total of twenty-seven professional basketball players (Euroleague Basketball and the ABA League) participated in the study. CPET was performed before (as part of their regular preparticipation exam, during the pre-season period), as well as after SARS-CoV-2 infection (after two weeks of home isolation, during the competitive part of the season). CPET was performed on a treadmill, while cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic functions were evaluated by using a breath-by-breath analysis technique (Quark CPET system manufactured by Cosmed, Rome, Italy). Results: Maximal oxygen consumption and aerobic efficiency were significantly reduced after SARS-CoV-2 infection (p = 0.000). An obvious decrease in oxygen pulse was observed during CPET after recovering from COVID-19 (p = 0.001), as was deterioration of ventilatory efficiency. Internal respiration was the most negatively affected. An early transition from aerobic to anaerobic mechanisms of creating energy for work and intensive metabolic fatigue were obvious after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Conclusions: Although it was believed that SARS-CoV-2 only affects the cardiopulmonary status of the elderly population and people with associated comorbidities, it is clear from this research that professional athletes can also be at certain risk. Even though no pathological cardiovascular and respiratory changes were found in athletes after COVID-19, results showed significantly decreased cardiorespiratory fitness, with an emphasis on internal respiration.

show abstract

“…One of the main topics that has shaken the scientific community in particular, and the world in general, is the global outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. In the sports and scientific world, the pandemic has been widely analyzed from several perspectives, such as psychological or behavioral (Karrer et al, 2022;Katanic, Bjelica, Corluka, Preljevic, & Osmani, 2022) or the clinical (Faghy et al, 2020). In addition, it has also been studied in all kinds of sports such as swimming (Fülöp et al, 2022), soccer (Gattoni et al, 2022), tennis (Ishihara, Robin, Naito, Murata, & Crespo, 2022) or taekwondo (Monterrosa Quintero et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Has Covid-19 pandemic influenced the performance of top-class triathletes in the Sprint and Olympic dis-tance of the ITU World Triathlon Championship Series?

García González,

González Jurado

2024

Retos

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ITU World Triathlon Championship Series (WTS) is the top championship for triathlon in Sprint (SPD) and Olympic distance (OD). The influence of COVID-pandemic on triathlon is not yet clear. The aim of the present study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on performance in the WTS focusing on male and female categories and the SPD and OD. The Student's t-test for independent samples comparing sex and distances was used for normal variables, whereas the Mann-Whitney U-test was used for non-normal variables. The analysis of the OD revealed significant changes in all the studied variables for either sex. In this distance, men improved more in cycling performance and final performance than women (p values ˂0.001). The SPD displayed significant changes in performance in most of the analyzed variables. In this distance, men showed greater change values in swimming and cycling performance (p values ˂0.001) whereas women showed them in running performance (p value ˂0.001). The analysis of relative changes across the different distances revealed important significant differences in almost all variables. The variable with a larger effect size was the final performance (3.728; 12.605; 3.006). In overall, SPD shows better values of changes than OD in swimming, running performance and first transition phase (p values ˂0.001; ˂0.001; 0.001) but it is on the way around for the cycling and running performance (p values ˂0.001). These results suggest that triathletes participating in WTS in both sexes were able to not only maintain but also improve their final performance level despite COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, World Championship, swimming, cycling, running, transition.

show abstract

COVID-19 and elite sport: Cardiovascular implications and return-to-play

Cited by 5 publications

References 64 publications

Cardiopulmonary Profiling of Athletes with Post-Exertional Malaise after COVID-19 Infection—A Single-Center Experience

Cardiopulmonary Profiling of Athletes with Post-Exertional Malaise after COVID-19 Infection—A Single-Center Experience

Impaired Cardiorespiratory Fitness of Elite Athletes after Asymptomatic or Mild SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Has Covid-19 pandemic influenced the performance of top-class triathletes in the Sprint and Olympic dis-tance of the ITU World Triathlon Championship Series?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About