Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes (Dec 2022)

The Sports Cardiology Team: Personalizing Athlete Care Through a Comprehensive, Multidisciplinary Approach

  • Juliette C. van Hattum, MD,
  • Sjoerd M. Verwijs, BSc,
  • P. Jeff Senden, MD, PhD,
  • Jessica L. Spies, BSc,
  • S. Matthijs Boekholdt, MD, PhD,
  • Maarten Groenink, MD, PhD,
  • Nicole M. Panhuyzen-Goedkoop, MD,
  • Albert R. Willems, MD, PhD,
  • Ingmar Knobbe, MD,
  • Nicolaas A. Blom, MD, PhD,
  • Cornelis A.C.M. Wijne, MD,
  • Gustaaf Reurink, MD, PhD,
  • Saskia N. van der Crabben, MD, PhD,
  • Nick R. Bijsterveld, MD, PhD,
  • Evert A.L.M. Verhagen, MD, PhD,
  • Yigal M. Pinto, MD, PhD,
  • Arthur A.M. Wilde, MD, PhD,
  • Harald T. Jørstad, MD, PhD

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 6
pp. 525 – 535

Abstract

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Objective: To systematically investigate and document the infrastructure, practices, recommendations, and clinical consequences of a structured, organized sports cardiology multidisciplinary team (MDT) for athletes and patients who wish to engage in sports and exercise. Patients and Methods: We established bimonthly sports cardiology MDT meetings, with a permanent panel of experts in sports cardiology, genetics, pediatric cardiology, cardiovascular imaging, electrophysiology, and sports and exercise medicine. Cases were referred nationally or internationally by cardiologists/sports physicians. We retrospectively analyzed all MDT cases (April 10, 2019 through May 13, 2020) and collected clinical follow-up data up to 1 year after the initial review. Results: A total of 115 athletes underwent MDT review; of them, 11% were women, 65% were recreational athletes, and 54% were performing “mixed” type of sports; the mean age was 32±16 years. An MDT review led to a diagnosis revision of “suspected cardiac pathology” to “no cardiac pathology” in 38% of the athletes and increased the number of definitive diagnoses (from 77 to 109; P=.03). We observed fewer “total sports restrictions” (from 6 to 0; P=.04) and more tailored sports advice concerning “no peak load/specific maximum load” (from 10 to 26; P=.02). At the 14±6-month follow-up, 112 (97%) athletes reported no cardiovascular events, 111 (97%) athletes reported no (new) cardiac symptoms, 113 (98%) athletes reported adherence to the MDT sports advice, and no diagnoses were revised. Conclusion: Our experiences with a comprehensive sports cardiology MDT demonstrate that this approach leads to higher percentages of definitive diagnoses and fewer cardiac pathology diagnoses, more tailored sports advice with excellent rates of adherence, and fewer total sports restrictions. Our findings highlight the added value of sports cardiology MDTs for patient and athlete care.