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Months after recovering from COVID-19, some college athletes are showing signs of heart inflammation brought on by a rare condition called myocarditis that may be linked to SARS-CoV-2 exposure, doctors reported September 11 in JAMA Cardiology.
When they imaged the hearts of more than two dozen of Ohio State University players using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), they found evidence of myocarditis in 15 percent, while a further 30 percent had cellular damage or swelling that could not be linked definitively to the condition.
In their report, the doctors offer an additional risk assessment tool for universities and professional sports agencies looking to balance the risk to their athletes against a desire to resume play.
“Myocarditis is a significant cause of sudden cardiac death in competitive athletes,” the authors write in the study. “Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has the potential to identify a high-risk cohort for adverse ...
