Coronary atherosclerotic burden in veteran athletes: The relationship between cardiovascular risk and volume of exercise.

Introduction And Objectives: The association between exercise and coronary atherosclerosis still remains unclarified. We aimed to analyze the prevalence of high coronary atherosclerotic burden in veteran athletes, considering cardiovascular (CV) risk and volume of exercise.

Methods: A total of 105 asymptomatic male veteran athletes (48±5.

Cardiac remodeling induced by exercise in Caucasian male master athletes: a cross-sectional study.

To describe cardiac remodeling in a population of male master athletes evaluated by transthoracic echocardiography and to analyse its relationship with several exercise-related characteristics. A total of 105 male master athletes aged ≥ 40 years old, mostly involved in endurance sports (81.0%) with a median training-volume of 66 [44; 103] METs/h/week, were studied.

Coronary atherosclerotic burden in veteran male recreational athletes with low to intermediate cardiovascular risk.

Introduction: Although there is evidence that a significant proportion of veteran athletes have coronary atherosclerotic disease (CAD), its prevalence in recreational athletes with low to intermediate cardiovascular (CV) risk is not established. This study aimed to characterize the coronary atherosclerotic burden in veteran male recreational athletes with low to intermediate CV risk.

Methods: Asymptomatic male athletes aged ≥40 years with low to intermediate risk, who exercised >4 hours/week for >5 years, underwent cardiac computed tomography (CT) for coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring and CT angiography.

Subclinical coronary artery disease in veteran athletes: is a new preparticipation methodology required?

Objective: Preparticipation evaluation of veteran athletes should focus on accurate cardiovascular (CV) risk stratification and subclinical detection of coronary artery disease (CAD), which is the main cause of sudden cardiac death in this population. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of current preparticipation methodology used to identify veteran athletes with high coronary atherosclerotic burden.

Methods: A total of 105 asymptomatic male athletes aged ≥40 years old, with low to moderate CV risk (Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation <5%) who trained ≥4 hours/week for at least 5 years, were studied.

Myocardial deformation and volume of exercise: a new overlap between pathology and athlete's heart?

Regular physical exercise induces cardiac adaptations that can overlap pathological conditions. Controversy still persists about the variability of myocardial deformation in different types and intensity of exercise. The aim of this study was to assess myocardial longitudinal deformation in athletes with different level of exercise.

Comparison of Three Criteria for Interpretation of Electrocardiogram in the Military.

Background: Screening of competitive athletes and other individuals exposed to regular and intense physical exercise, such as military personnel, can lead to an early and preclinical identification of cardiac conditions associated with a higher risk for sudden cardiac death. The electrocardiogram (ECG) has been recommended for the precompetitive screening, but its interpretation remains controversial. The aim of this study was to compare three different standardized criteria for interpretation of athletes' ECG applied in military.

Variability in interpretation of the electrocardiogram in athletes: Another limitation in pre-competitive screening.

Introduction: Assessment of the electrocardiogram (ECG) in athletes remains controversial, with lack of standardization and difficulty in applying specific criteria in its interpretation. The purpose of this study was to assess variability in the interpretation of the ECG in athletes.

Methods: Twenty ECGs of competitive athletes were assessed by cardiologists and cardiology residents, 11 of them normal or with isolated physiological changes and nine pathological.

Cardiovascular risk profile of young adults: changes over time.

Background And Objective: The high prevalence and natural history of atherosclerosis make young people important targets for cardiovascular prevention. This study aimed to analyze changes over time in the cardiovascular risk profile of a population of healthy young adults.

Methods: We studied 923 Portuguese Air Force applicants between 1991 and 2007, divided into two-year periods.

[NT-proBNP for risk stratification of pulmonary embolism].

Introduction: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is an entity with high mortality and morbidity, in which risk stratification for adverse events is essential. N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a right ventricular dysfunction marker, may be useful in assessing the short-term prognosis of patients with PE.

Aims: To characterize a sample of patients hospitalized with PE according to NT-proBNP level at hospital admission and to assess the impact of this biomarker on short-term evolution.

Electrocardiographic presentation of massive and submassive pulmonary embolism.

Introduction: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common clinical entity in the emergency department, and remains a diagnostic challenge for physicians. The role of the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) in its diagnosis and assessment of severity and prognosis is not as well defined as for acute coronary syndromes. We report four cases of massive and submassive PE with differing ECG findings admitted to an acute cardiac care unit.

Pseudonormalization of transmitral pulsed doppler flow: A/e' ratio during the valsalva maneuver--a new discriminative index.

Unlabelled: The Valsalva maneuver (VM) has frequently been suggested as a useful method in evaluation of left ventricular (LV) grade II diastolic dysfunction (DDII) through inversion of a pseudonormalized ratio between diastolic transmitral early (E) and late atrial (A) waves assessed by pulsed Doppler. The purpose of our study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of E/A inversion during VM in LV DDII patients and its correlation with mitral annulus motion evaluated by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). Using the echocardiographic criteria of the European Society of Cardiology for the diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction, we studied a group of 44 patients, 27 male, aged 59 +/- 14 years, with DDII (DDII-group) and compared them with a control group (N group) composed of 33 healthy individuals, 17 male, aged 36 +/- 9 years.