Cardiac magnetic resonance assessment of athletic myocardial fibrosis; Benign bystander or malignant marker?

作者：Wasim Javed, Aneil Malhotra, Peter Swoboda · 发表于：International Journal of Cardiology · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1016/j.ijcard.2023.131382 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Cardiovascular Effects of Exercise、Cardiac Imaging and Diagnostics、Viral Infections and Immunology Research

The benefits of exercise are irrefutable with a well-established dose-dependent relationship between exercise intensity and reduction in cardiovascular disease. Differentiating the physiological adaptation to exercise, termed the "athlete's heart" from cardiomyopathies, has been advanced by the advent of more sophisticated imaging modalities such as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). Myocardial fibrosis on CMR is a mutual finding amongst seemingly healthy endurance athletes and individuals with cardiomyopathy. As a substrate for arrhythmias, fibrosis is traditionally associated with increased cardiovascular risk. In this article, we discuss the aetiologies, distribution and potential implications of myocardial fibrosis in athletes.