Abstract: A retrospective analysis of medical records of 39 former male athletes with cardiovascular complaints (mean age 61.6 ± 11.3 years, mean duration of career in sports 23.9 ± 17.3 years, mean duration of the postathletic period 20.1 ± 9.9 years) was carried out in order to analyze the relationship between the athletic qualifications and cardiac arrhythmias and conductivity disorders in former athletes. The patients were screened for cardiac arrhythmias and conductivity disorders and underwent echocardiography. The overall prevalence of sustained paroxysms of atrial fibrillation was 42%; it increased with athletic qualifications. Ryan’s grade 4b–5 premature ventricular contractions were found in 14% of patients. Three parameters were found to be independent predictors of arrhythmias in former athletes: athletic qualifications, multifocal atherosclerosis (as an antirisk factor), and age. The coefficient of determination for the created prognostic model reached 43%. An algorithm was proposed to screen for rhythm disorders in former athletes based on clinical data. Further prospective studies are needed to validate the algorithm.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)363-367
Number of pages5
JournalAdvances in Gerontology
Volume10
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2020

    Research areas

  • atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular block, former athletes, prognostic model, sports cardiology

    Scopus subject areas

  • Gerontology
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology

ID: 76721813