Journal article

Exercise cardiac magnetic resonance to differentiate athlete's heart from structural heart disease

G Claessen, F Schnell, J Bogaert, M Claeys, N Pattyn, F De Buck, S Dymarkowski, P Claus, F Carré, J Van Cleemput, AL Gerche, H Heidbuchel

European Heart Journal Cardiovascular Imaging | OXFORD UNIV PRESS | Published : 2018

Abstract

Aims The distinction between left ventricular (LV) dilation with mildly reduced LV ejection fraction (EF) in response to regular endurance exercise training and an early cardiomyopathy is a frequently encountered and difficult clinical conundrum. We hypothesized that exercise rather than resting measures would provide better discrimination between physiological and pathological LV remodelling and that preserved exercise capacity does not exclude significant LV damage. Methods We prospectively included 19 subjects with LVEF between 40 and 52%, comprising 10 ostensibly healthy endur- and results ance athletes (EA-healthy) and nine patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In addition, we rec..

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University of Melbourne Researchers