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CC BY 4.0 · Int J Sports Med 2022; 43(13): 1097-1105
DOI: 10.1055/a-1810-5314
DOI: 10.1055/a-1810-5314
Review
Sports, Myocarditis and COVID-19: Diagnostics, Prevention and Return-to-play Strategies
Abstract
Myocarditis is an umbrella term for non-ischemic myocardial inflammation and remains a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in active individuals and athletes. Accurate diagnosing is challenging and diseases could often remain undetected. In the majority of cases, acute myocarditis resolves favourably. However, a relevant proportion of patients may have an increased risk of prognostically relevant cardiac arrhythmias and/or the development and progression of maladaptive myocardial remodelling (dilated cardiomyopathy). This review provides current knowledge on myocarditis and sports with special regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible causes, common symptoms and proposed diagnostics are summarized. The relevance of temporary avoidance of intensive sports activities for both the prevention and therapy of acute myocarditis is discussed. Risk stratification, specific return-to-play recommendations and proposed follow-up diagnostics (also after COVID-19 infection) are presented.
Publication History
Received: 23 December 2022
Accepted: 25 March 2022
Accepted Manuscript online:
28 March 2022
Article published online:
03 June 2022
© 2019. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Georg Thieme Verlag
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart,
Germany
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