title: Symptoms, diagnoses, and sporting consequences among athletes referred to a Danish sports cardiology clinic.
abstract: As the number of recreational athletes performing exercise and participating in competitions at a high-level increases, exercise-induced cardiac symptoms may become a more common problem, not least because recreational athletes often continue high-level exercise programs into advanced ages. We investigated the prevalence of cardiac symptoms and diagnoses among 201 athletes referred for cardiac evaluation at a Sports Cardiology Clinic in Denmark. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic study of athletes referred for suspected cardiac disease. The athletes were all well-trained recreational to elite athletes who participated in various sports with different training loads and a wide age span (13-66 years). All patients were referred by physicians, primarily their general practitioner (38%), and palpitations were the most common cardiac symptom (40%). Cardiac symptoms had a sensitivity of 86% in detecting cardiac disease and a specificity of 13%. Cardiac disease was diagnosed in 44% of the patients, and atrial fibrillation was the most prevalent diagnosis (7.5%). Cardiac diseases with therapeutic- or sports-related consequences for the patients were diagnosed in 28% of the population, but only 1% received a recommendation to avoid high-level sports indefinitely.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: L V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Kaiser-Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Tischer
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Prescott
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Rasmusen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D056352:Athletes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D053840:Brugada Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002309:Cardiology; D002637:Chest Pain; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004417:Dyspnea; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017380:Hypertrophy, Right Ventricular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008133:Long QT Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000068958:Return to Sport; D013177:Sports; D013575:Syncope; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D018879:Ventricular Premature Complexes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: athletes; cardiac symptoms; cardiovascular disease; sports cardiology