title: Biomarker changes after strenuous exercise can mimic pulmonary embolism and cardiac injury--a metaanalysis of 45 studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Biomarkers are well established for diagnosis of myocardial infarction [cardiac troponins, high-sensitivity cardiac troponins (hs-cTn)], exclusion of acute and chronic heart failure [B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP)] and venous thromboembolism (d-dimers). Several studies have demonstrated acute increases in cardiac biomarkers and altered cardiac function after strenuous sports that can pretend a cardiovascular emergency and interfere with state-of-the-art clinical assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a systematic review and metaanalysis of biomarker and cardiovascular imaging changes after endurance exercise. We searched for observational studies published in the English language from 1997 to 2014 that assessed these biomarkers or cardiac function and morphology directly after endurance exercise. Of 1787 identified abstracts, 45 studies were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Across all studies cardiac troponin T (cTnT) exceeded the cutoff value (0.01 ng/mL) in 51% (95% CI, 37%-64%) of participants. The measured pooled changes from baseline for high-sensitivity cTnT (hs-cTnT) were +26 ng/L (95% CI, 5.2-46.0), for cTnI +40 ng/L (95% CI, 21.4; 58.0), for BNP +10 ng/L (95% CI, 4.3; 16.6), for NT-proBNP +67 ng/L (95% CI, 49.9; 84.7), and for d-dimer +262 ng/mL (95% CI, 165.9; 358.7). Right ventricular end diastolic diameter increased and right ventricular ejection fraction as well as the ratio of the early to late transmitral flow velocities decreased after exercise, while no significant changes were observed in left ventricular ejection fraction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current cardiovascular biomarkers (cTnT, hs-cTnT, BNP, NT-proBNP, and d-dimer) that are used in clinical diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, acute coronary syndrome, and heart failure are prone to alterations due to strenuous exercise. Hence, it is necessary to take previous physical exercise into account when a cardiac emergency is suspected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Germany;
authors.forename: Farbod
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sedaghat-Hamedani
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Germany;
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kayvanpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frankenstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Germany;
authors.forename: Derliz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mereles
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Germany;
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amr
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buss
authors.affiliation: Chair for Clinical Bioinformatics, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giannitsis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Biometry and Informatics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Germany;
authors.forename: Hugo A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Katus
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Germany; Benjamin.Meder@med.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meder
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005080:Exercise Test; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D020107:Troponin T; C036309:fibrin fragment D; C109794:pro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76); D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain