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Possibilities in the Prediction of Cardiac Arrhythmias and Conductivity Disorders in Former Athletes

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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.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are deeply grateful to the cardiologist, Cand. Sci. (Med.) K.N. Shorokhov and cardiologist O.A. Savelyeva for their participation in the preliminary selection of patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Petersburg State University, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    O. B. Krysiuk, A. G. Obrezan, S. F. Zadvorev & A. A. Yakovlev

  2. International Medical Center SOGAZ, 191186, St. Petersburg, Russia

    O. B. Krysiuk & A. G. Obrezan

  3. St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University, 194100, St. Petersburg, Russia

    O. B. Krysiuk

  4. City Multifield Hospital No. 2, 194354, St. Petersburg, Russia

    S. F. Zadvorev & A. A. Yakovlev

Authors
  1. O. B. Krysiuk
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  2. A. G. Obrezan
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  3. S. F. Zadvorev
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  4. A. A. Yakovlev
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Correspondence to S. F. Zadvorev.

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Conflicts of interest. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement of compliance with standards of research involving humans as subjects. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.

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Translated by K. Lazarev

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Krysiuk, O.B., Obrezan, A.G., Zadvorev, S.F. et al. Possibilities in the Prediction of Cardiac Arrhythmias and Conductivity Disorders in Former Athletes. Adv Gerontol 10, 363–367 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079057020040104

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079057020040104

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