title: Myocardial crypt in an asymptomatic young athlete: how to interpret?
abstract: Myocardial crypts are extensions of blood signal penetrating the compact myocardium and are considered in literature as either a distinctive cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging marker for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or as benign congenital malformations. What if CMR reveals a myocardial crypt in the presence of an altered ECG in an asymptomatic, enlarged young athlete's heart? The illustrated case demonstrates that new insights in CMR can also require further diagnostic interventions, which might have deleterious consequences for the individual athlete because of the uncertain interpretation of some findings in the demanding new world of a rapidly developing diagnostic imaging technique.
authors.affiliation: 1Sports and Exercise Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, ITALY; 2University Institute for Sports Medicine, Prevention and Rehabilitation, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, AUSTRIA; and 3Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Unit, Euganea Medica, Albignasego, Padova, ITALY.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neunhäuserer
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ermolao
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Corbetti
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niebauer
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zaccaria
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gasperetti
mesh_terms: D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*