AHA News: Registries Could Offer Insight Into COVID-19's Impact on College Athletes' Hearts
American Heart Association NewsTUESDAY, Jan. 12, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- Researchers are soon expected to release initial findings from a national cardiac registry of NCAA athletes who have tested positive for COVID-19, giving hope to health care professionals trying to better understand the impact of the disease on the heart.
The data could help doctors diagnose and treat athletes recovering from COVID-19 who have developed myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. While the number of such cases known publicly among athletes is low, the American College of Cardiology's Sports and Exercise Cardiology Leadership Council has outlined recommendations for when athletes who have tested positive for the coronavirus can resume physical activity. Guidelines include cardiac testing for those who had COVID-19 symptoms.
Sports medicine and cardiology experts at Harvard University and the University of Washington formed the national registry in collaboration with the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association to track cases of COVID-19 and its heart-related aftermath in NCAA athletes. More than 60 schools are currently contributing to the registry.
Before COVID-19, myocarditis accounted for 7% to 20% of deaths attributed to sudden cardiac events in young athletes, according to a recent study in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging. But data on heart injury in athletes recovering from COVID-19 is limited.
"Registry data of cardiac testing and outcomes in athletes after COVID-19 are needed to guide future screening strategies," the study authors said.
The research database, called Outcomes Registry for Cardiac Conditions in Athletes, or ORCCA, already has collected data from more than 3,000 athletes. It initially will focus on athletes who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 to identify how the condition impacts the cardiovascular system and injures the heart muscle, the AMSSM statement said. The long-term objective is a registry for athletes diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, regardless of whether it was related to COVID-19.
"You wouldn't want someone working out intensely in the middle of an inflammation of the heart because it could weaken the heart in the long term," said Dr. Rachel Lampert, a cardiologist with Yale Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. She is on the steering committee for the registry. "That's why the question is particularly relevant in athletes."
According to a small study published in September in JAMA Cardiology, 4 out of 26 athletes (15%) from Ohio State University who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and underwent heart MRIs had results "suggestive of myocarditis."
Ohio State, which lost to the University of Alabama in Monday's college football championship, is among the 14 schools in the Big Ten Conference. The conference has its own cardiac registry and is contributing to ORCCA.
Dr. Eugene H. Chung is an electrophysiologist and sports cardiologist at Michigan Medicine and member of the Big Ten Cardiac Registry Steering Committee. "It would be very interesting to get a sense of how often we're seeing myocarditis in student-athletes infected with COVID-19 – we don't quite know that yet," said Chung, who also is chair of ACC's Sports and Exercise Cardiology Leadership Council.
The Big Ten plans to separately review its registry data and have specialists not involved in the initial data collection report independently on findings from cardiovascular evaluations. The Big Ten registry also will include control groups of athletes not affected by COVID-19 and those suffering from other illnesses such as the flu to compare cardiac risk among all three groups.
"With the cardiac registry, the Big Ten will take the lead to further our understanding of the athletic heart as well as the course of COVID-19 infection in the collegiate student-athlete population," Chung and fellow conference registry steering committee members wrote in a recent article in the AHA journal Circulation.
"Our findings will be informative for broader public health policy as we fight coronavirus and all strive for safe return to play."
American Heart Association News covers heart and brain health. Not all views expressed in this story reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is owned or held by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved. If you have questions or comments about this story, please email [email protected].
By Genaro C. Armas
This article: Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Resources
-
Articles
- Adolescent Parenting Introduction
-
Healthy Teens: Food, Eating & Nutrition During Adolescence
- Teenage Caloric Requirements
- Nutritional Guidelines for Teens
- How Can Parents Help Teens to Develop Healthy Eating Habits?
- Common Nutritional Challenges for Teenagers: Adolescent Obesity
- Common Nutritional Challenges for Teenagers: Eating Disorders and Unhealthy Dieting
- Common Nutritional Challenges for Teenagers: Adolescent Diabetes
- Adolescent Diabetes Continued
- Healthy Teens: Exercise and Sports
- Healthy Teens: Sleep
- Parenting Teens: Clothing Clashes, Housing Decisions, & Financial Management
- Parenting Teens: Skincare, Cosmetics, Tattoos, & Piercings
- Caring for Teens: Healthcare for Teens and Young Adults
-
Parenting Teens: Discipline, Love, Rules & Expectations
- Parenting Teens: Discipline, Love, Rules & Expectations
- Discipline and Guidance: Early to Middle Adolescence
- Discipline and Guidance: Early to Middle Adolescence: Time Management and Family Commitments
- Discipline and Guidance: Early to Middle Adolescence: Socializing, Dating and Driving
- Discipline and Guidance: Older Adolescents and Young Adults (18 Years and Older)
-
A Parent’s Guide to Protecting Teens’ Health and Safety
- A Parent's Guide to Protecting Teens' Health & Safety
- Understanding the Risks of Adolescent Drug Use: Part II
- What Can Parents Do to Prevent Teenage Alcohol and Drug Use?
- Steps Parents Can Take to Protect Their Children from Alcohol and Other Drug Use
- Steps for Parents: Part II
- Driving Privileges and Safe Driving Practices for Young Drivers
- Parental Guidelines for Teen Driving Privileges: The Family Driving Contract
- Protecting Teens from Abusive Relationships and Dating Violence
- Protecting Teens from Teenage Fights, Gang Violence, Exposure to Sexual Predators and Graphic Internet Violence
- Protecting Teens from Teenage Bullying
- Protecting Adolescent Safety: Independent Living
- Personal Security While in Public Places
- Adolescent Parenting Summary & Conclusion
- Adolescent Parenting: References & Resources
-
Questions and Answers
-
Book & Media Reviews
-
Links
-
Videos
- Feeling down? Let's talk - Prevention of suicide among adolescents
- Teen Drug Use: 2014 Monitoring The Future Survey Results
- NPW 2017: Suicide and Substance Use in Young People
- Are We Feeding Early Puberty
- Why Teens Are Attracted to Vaping
- Is My High School Student Ready for College? (And Is My College Student Ready to Go Back?)
- Advice to Parents | Drugs & College 101
- Teen Depression Screening
- Let’s talk about depression – focus on adolescents and young adults
- The Flu Shot- Who Really Gets It
-
46 more
- Child Development: Stepping Stones - Lesson 21: Adolescence: Biosocial Development
- Child Development: Stepping Stones - Lesson 22: Adolescence: Cognitive Development
- Child Development: Stepping Stones - Lesson 24: Adolescence: Summary
- Are Your Kids Addicted to Social Media?
- Is My Child Too Young to Get the HPV Vaccine?
- Do Boys Need the HPV Vaccine?
- The Perils of Adolescence
- Tackling Concussions
- Adolescent Risk-Takers: The Power of Peers
- Energy Drink Sparking More ER Visits
- Children and Social Media: What Every Parent Should Know
- Drugs: Shatter The Myths
- The Impact of Changing Social Behaviors on Teen Drug Use
- The Sound of Your Voice
- Teen Substance Use
- Youth Suicide Risk
- Take Healthy Habits to College
- What Boys Want to Know About Puberty
- Am I Normal (Girls and Puberty)
- Money Tips for Millennials
- E-Cigarette Use in Middle and High School Students
- Teens Using E-cigarettes More Likely to Start Smoking Tobacco
- Tips For Teens With Diabetes: Be Active
- Help Teens Lower Their Risk for Type 2 Diabetes
- Adolescence: Preparing for Lifelong Health and Wellness
- Back to School: A Good Night's Sleep
- How to Talk to Teens: A Developmental Approach
- Bedtime Wake Up Call
- Game Change! Focus on Families - Engaging Young Adults and Their Families
- Endocrine System
- Behavioral Health on College Campuses
- Notebook: Sexual Harassment
- Flu Shots: Young Adults Need Immunity
- Most Teens Need a Rest
- Screen Time vs. Bedtime
- What is Puberty? Decoding Puberty in Girls
- All About Boys Puberty
- Inside Puberty: What Are the Stages of Puberty?
- Puberty Explained - What Is Happening To Your Body?
- Another Reason for Teens to Eat Their Vegetables
- Dangers of E-Cigarettes
- HPV Vaccine: A Pediatrician’s Recommendation
- Healthy Weight
- Getting through to your teenager with ADHD
- Back-to-School: A Time to Think about Health & Academics
- Impact of Cyberbullying: Addressing the Needs of Children and Youth
Topics
-
Related Topic Centers
-
Addictions
-
Aging & Elder Care
-
Assessments & Interventions
-
Career & Workplace
-
Emotional Well-Being
-
Life Issues
-
Parenting & Child Care
-
Abuse
-
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
-
Adoption
-
Autism
-
Child & Adolescent Development: Overview
-
Child & Adolescent Development: Puberty
-
Child Development & Parenting: Early (3-7)
-
Child Development & Parenting: Infants (0-2)
-
Child Development & Parenting: Middle (8-11)
-
Child Development & Parenting:Adolescence (12-24)
-
Child Development Theory: Adolescence (12-24)
-
Child Development Theory: Middle Childhood (8-11)
-
Childhood Mental Disorders and Illnesses
-
Childhood Special Education
-
Divorce
-
Family & Relationship Issues
-
Intellectual Disabilities
-
Learning Disorders
-
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
-
Parenting
-
Self Esteem
-
-
Psychological Disorders
-
Anxiety Disorders
-
Bipolar Disorder
-
Conversion Disorders
-
Depression: Depression & Related Conditions
-
Dissociative Disorders
-
Domestic Violence and Rape
-
Eating Disorders
-
Impulse Control Disorders
-
Intellectual Disabilities
-
Mental Disorders
-
Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
-
Personality Disorders
-
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
-
Schizophrenia
-
Sexual Disorders
-
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
-
Suicide
-
Tourettes and other Tic Disorders
-