Recommendations for competitive sports participation in athletes with cardiovascular disease: a consensus document from the Study Group of Sports Cardiology of the Working Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology

Abstract

Recommendations for competitive sports participation in athletes with cardiovascular disease A Consensus document from the Study Group of Sports Cardiology of the Working Group of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology and the Working Group of Myocardial and Pericardial diseases of the European Society of Cardiology The rationale for offering an expert consensus document concerning the participation in competitive sports by individuals with cardiovascular (CV) disease is based on the widely accepted clinical perception, substantiated by scientific evidence, that athletes with underlying (even clinically silent) CV disease have an increased risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD) or clinical deterioration in comparison with normal individuals, by virtue of their regular exercise training and sports participation. Therefore, the aim of the present recommendations is to provide careful guidelines to physicians and consultant cardiologists regarding the evaluation of athletes with CV abnormalities and to suggest sports activities that can be safely performed. Target of the recommendations are competitive athletes Nature of the recommendations The present recommendations represent the consensus document of an international panel of experts appointed by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), including clinical CV specialists with experience in exercise physiology, sports medicine, and clinical cardiology. The present recommendations represent, therefore, a prudent, contemporary, and practical document for advising competitive sports activity in patients with CV disease. This panel advises that implementation of the present recommendations will occur in the different European countries with keeping in mind the different legal and cultural backgrounds, possibly by legislative action, and with the support of the national scientific and sport organizations