The DOI matches its Crossref record; 34 of the 34 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
High prevalence of right ventricular involvementin endurance athletes with ventricular arrhythmias Role of an electrophysiologic study in risk stratification
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Electrocardiographic abnormalities and premature ventricular contractions are common in athletes and are generally benign. However, the specific outcome of high-level endurance athletes with frequent and complex ventricular arrhythmias is unclear. Also, information on the predictive accuracy of different investigations in this subgroup is unknown. RESULTS: We report on 46 high-level endurance athletes with ventricular arrhythmias (45 male; median age 31 years) followed-up for a median of 4.7 years. Eighty percent were cyclists. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or coronary abnormalities were present in < or =5%. Eighty percent of the arrhythmias had a left bundle branch morphology. Right ventricular (RV) arrhythmogenic involvement (based on a combination of multiple criteria) was manifest in 59% of the athletes, and suggestive in another 30%. Eighteen athletes developed a major arrhythmic event (sudden death in nine, all cyclists). They were significantly younger than those without event (median 23 years vs 38 years; P=0.01). Outcome could not be predicted by presenting symptoms, non-invasive arrhythmia evaluation or morphological findings at baseline. Only the induction of sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) during invasive electrophysiological testing was significantly related to outcome (RR 3.4; P=0.02). Focal arrhythmias were associated with a better prognosis than those due to reentry (P=0.02) but the mechanism could be determined in only 22 (48%). CONCLUSIONS: Complex ventricular arrhythmias do not necessarily represent a benign finding in endurance athletes. An electrophysiological study is indicated for risk evaluation, both by defining inducibility and identifying the arrhythmogenic mechanism. Endurance athletes with arrhythmias have a high prevalence of right ventricular structural and/or arrhythmic involvement. Endurance sports seems to be related to the development and/or progression of the underlying arrhythmogenic substrate.
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“For patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, some early data suggests that exercise may exacerbate the underlying structural abnormalities.107,107a”
From Managing with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (2013) · cites this paper as [107]
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“Studies focussing on the LV of athletes have failed to provide these mechanistic insights, 4 but recent data have suggested that exercise-induced proarrhythmic substrates may develop in the RV while sparing the LV.12,13,15”
From Exercise-induced right ventricular dysfunction and structural remodelling in endurance athletes (2012) · cites this paper as [13]
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“Exercise increases potassium, 98 decreases pH, 99 increases catecholamines, 100 and can induce ischemia, any of which could potentially increase the defibrillation threshold.95,[101][102][103]”
From Managing with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (2013) · cites this paper as [100]
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Citations
Cites
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Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy and Sudden Death in Young People
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Magnitude of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy and Risk of Sudden Death in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
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Sudden death in young competitive athletes: clinicopathologic correlations in 22 cases
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Familial occurrence of right ventricular dysplasia: A study involving nine families
Nava, A. K., Thiene, G., Canciani, B., Scognamiglio, R., Daliento, L., Buja, G., Martini, B., STRITONI, P., & Fasoli, G. (1988) · Journal of the American College of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/0735-1097(88)92603-4 · Cited by 388
The gene for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy maps to chromosome 14q23–q24
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Long-lasting sport practice and lone atrial fibrillation
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Lone atrial fibrillation in vigorously exercising middle aged men: case-control study
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Priori, S. G., Blomström-Lundqvist, C., Mazzanti, A., Blom, N., Borggrefe, M., Camm, J., Elliott, P. M., Fitzsimons, D., Hatala, R., Hindricks, G., et al. (2015) · European Heart Journal · doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehv316 · Cited by 3,893
2020 ESC guidelines on sports cardiology and exercise in patients with cardiovascular disease
Pelliccia, A., Sharma, S., Gati, S., Bäck, M., Börjesson, M., Caselli, S., Collet, J.-P., Corrado, D., Drezner, J. A., Halle, M., et al. (2021) · European Heart Journal · doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa605 · Cited by 1,958
Self-citationAl‐Khatib, S. M., Stevenson, W. G., Ackerman, M. J., Bryant, W. J., Callans, D. J., Curtis, A. B., Deal, B. J., Dickfeld, T. M., Field, M. E., Fonarow, G. C., et al. (2018) · Journal of the American College of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2017.10.054 · Cited by 1,902
Authors Task Force Members, Priori, S. G., Blomström‐Lundqvist, C., Mazzanti, A., Blom, N. A., Borggrefe, M., Camm, J. A., Elliot, P. M., Fitzsimons, D., Hatala, R., et al. (2015) · EP Europace · doi:10.1093/europace/euv319 · Cited by 1,671
Corrado, D., Pelliccia, A., Björnstad, H. H., Vanhees, L., Biffi, A., Börjesson, M., Panhuyzen-Goedkoop, N. M., Deligiannis, A. P., Solberg, E. E., Dugmore, D., et al. (2005) · European Heart Journal · doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehi108 · Cited by 1,118
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Metadata
- Authors
- Heidbüchel, H.
- Affiliations
- Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Heidbüchel, H
- ORCID
- Heidbüchel, H
- Venue
- European Heart Journal
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2003-08
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 16
- Pages
- 1473-1480
- ISSN
- 0195-668X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2113881585
- Cited by
- 395
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 3.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Heart Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Vlaamse regering
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Effects of Exercise
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Arrhythmias and Treatments
- Keywords
- endurance athletes, right ventricular involvement, ventricular arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death, risk stratification, electrophysiological study, sustained ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, arrhythmogenic substrate, premature ventricular contractions, cyclists, arrhythmia mechanisms
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Bicycling, Electrophysiology, Exercise Test, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prognosis, Sports, Electrocardiography, Ambulatory, Survival Analysis, Tachycardia, Ventricular, Ventricular Dysfunction, Right, Risk Assessment
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