A new landmark study involving 281 elite athletes from Australia and Belgium has revealed one in six have measures that would normally suggest reduced heart function.
Genetic analysis published in Circulation conducted by scientists in Australia and Belgium revealed those athletes also had an enrichment of genes associated with heart muscle disease.
Thus, a genetic predisposition may be 'stressed' by exercise to cause profound heart changes. The international collaboration will continue to monitor the athletes over the long-term to determine the consequences on their heart health.
Associate Professor Andre la Gerche, who heads the HEART Laboratory that is jointly supported by St Vincent's Institute in Melbourne and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, says the findings highlight the need for far closer monitoring of the heart health of elite athletes.
A/Prof La Gerche says: "We have long known that elite athletes have very different hearts to the general population. Exercise promotes profound heart changes. The heart is large in all elite athletes but there is still considerable variation ranging from large to enormous. The long-term significance of the most extreme changes is not yet certain.
"We discovered that one in six athletes had reduced heart pumping action, as well as showing for the first time the role genetics plays in heart function in these athletes.
"We want to keep our athletes healthy and prevent them from suffering a sudden cardiac arrest. The better we understand the athletes' heart, the more we will be able to identify risks in advance of tragedy."
Professor Guido Claessen, affiliated with the Jessa Hospital, University of Hasselt and KU Leuven in Belgium, says the findings primarily argue for close cardiological follow-up of elite athletes and that genetic screening in the future could become part of the preventive examinations that top athletes receive.
"The significance of the most extreme changes on long term needs to be further investigated. It is crucial we continue to monitor these athletes over the long-term to determine the future health effects – which could prove positive or negative," says Professor Claessen.
