#morristown medical center cardiology

[cardiologyassociatesofmorrist]

At Cardiology Associates of Morristown, we offer premier cardiovascular care services in Morristown designed to meet your unique health needs. Our expert team is committed to providing thorough evaluations, personalized treatment options, and ongoing support for all your cardiovascular concerns. Your heart health is our priority! Reach out now to book your appointment and experience our dedicated care firsthand.

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Saranas Announces Over 1,200 Patients Treated with the Early Bird® Bleed Monitoring System

New Post has been published on https://petnews2day.com/pet-news/bird-news/saranas-announces-over-1200-patients-treated-with-the-early-bird-bleed-monitoring-system/

Saranas Announces Over 1,200 Patients Treated with the Early Bird® Bleed Monitoring System

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Saranas, Inc. announced today that over 1,200 patients have been treated with the Early Bird® Bleed Monitoring System, the first and only FDA-approved bleed detection system. The Early Bird was launched in 2019 following a De Novo classification by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The device monitors and detects endovascular bleed complications through a novel application of bioimpedance sensors.

“Compared to the current paradigm of waiting for symptoms, which could take hours to develop, the Early Bird allows physicians to detect bleeding in real-time and take the necessary actions quickly to protect the outcomes of the procedure and aid recovery for the patient,” stated Dr. Philippe Genereux, interventional cardiologist and Director of the Structural Heart Disease Program at Morristown Medical Center, Morristown, NJ. “We have been using it in our clinical practice for over two years, and its design of incorporating a fully functional introducer sheath with bleed detection allows for seamless integration into high-risk, interventional cardiovascular procedures.”

“We have established a new standard of care for bleed monitoring during endovascular procedures, which not only helps to reduce intra- and post-procedural complications, but improve the patient experience,” said Saranas Interim CEO Kim Rodriguez. “The adoption of the Early Bird system is a testimony to physicians embracing the benefits of early bleed detection for their patients and practice.”

“We implemented the Early Bird as part of our post-procedure protocol and have seen a significant reduction in bleeding in our TAVR patients,” stated Dr. Hursh Naik, Chief of Cardiology and Director of Structural Heart Disease at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ. “Our staff embraced the Early Bird as it has become a critical component in the continuity of care for our patients, enabling our bleed management team to quickly identify and manage a bleeding complication. We have not only improved our TAVR outcomes but enhanced the patient experience as well.”

The Early Bird Bleed Monitoring System includes a bleed detection array with integrated electrodes in a fully functional vascular access sheath. It is designed to measure changes in bioimpedance to detect and monitor bleeding from vessel injury during endovascular procedures, such as a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), mechanical circulatory support (MCS) device placement, or other complex endovascular interventions, where the femoral artery or vein is used to obtain vascular access. Visual and audible indicators on the Early Bird notify the clinician of the onset and progression of bleeding events. In the FIH clinical study, bleed detection with the Early Bird was compared with a CT scan, the gold standard, and level of agreement was nearly perfect with 100% sensitivity1.

Approximately one in every five patients will experience a bleeding complication during large-bore endovascular procedures including TAVR, endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), and percutaneous MCS2. The average cost of a single bleeding complication incident across these large-bore procedures is approximately $18,000 with an estimated $729 million cost on the healthcare system.

About Saranas, Inc.

Saranas, Inc. is a privately held Houston-based medical device company focused on improving patient outcomes through early detection and monitoring of internal bleeding complications. The company’s patented Early Bird Bleed Monitoring System for vascular access procedures enables physicians to mitigate downstream consequences by addressing bleeding complications immediately, improving patient outcomes, and lowering healthcare costs. For more information, please visit www.saranas.com.

Genereux P et al. First-in-Human Study of the Saranas Early Bird Bleed Monitoring System for the Detection of Endovascular Procedure-Related Bleeding Events. J Invasive Cardiol. 2020 Jul;32(7):255-261. Epub 2020 Jun 8.

Redfors B et al. Mortality, length of stay, and cost implications of procedural bleeding after percutaneous interventions using large-bore catheters. JAMA Cardiol. 2017 Jul 1;2(7):798-802.

[gordonwilliamsweb]

What Covid Means for the Athlete’s Heart

For sports fans across the country, the resumption of the regular sports calendar has signaled another step toward post-pandemic normality. But for the athletes participating in professional, collegiate, high school or even recreational sports, significant unanswered questions remain about the aftereffects of a covid infection.

This story also ran on ESPN. It can be republished for free.

Chief among those is whether the coronavirus can damage their hearts, putting them at risk for lifelong complications and death. Preliminary data from early in the pandemic suggested that as many as 1 in 5 people with covid-19 could end up with heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, which has been linked to abnormal heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death.

Screening studies conducted by college athletic programs over the past year have generally found lower numbers. But these studies have been too small to provide an accurate measure of how likely athletes are to develop heart problems after covid, and how serious those heart issues may be.

Without definitive data, concerns arose that returning to play too soon could expose thousands of athletes to serious cardiac complications. On the other hand, if concerns proved overblown, the testing protocols could unfairly keep athletes out of competition and subject them to needless testing and treatment.

“The last thing we want is to miss people that we potentially could have detected, and have that result in bad outcomes — in particular, the sudden death of a young athlete,” said Dr. Matthew Martinez, director of sports cardiology at Atlantic Health’s Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey and an adviser to several professional sports leagues. “But we also need to look at the flip side and the potential negatives of overtesting.”

With millions of Americans playing high school, college, professional or master’s level sports, even a low rate of complications could result in significant numbers of affected athletes. And that could prompt a thorny discussion of how to balance the risk of a small percentage of players who could be in danger against the continuation of sports competition as we know it.

Limited Impact on Pro Sports

Data released from professional sports leagues in early March provided at least some reassurance that the problem may not be as great as initially feared. Pro athletes playing football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, soccer and hockey were screened for heart problems before returning from covid infections. The players underwent an electrical test of their heart rhythms, a blood test that checks for heart damage and an ultrasound exam of their hearts. Out of 789 athletes screened, 30 showed some cardiac abnormality in those initial tests and were referred for a cardiac MRI to provide a better picture of their heart. Five of those, less than 1% of athletes screened, showed inflammation of the heart that sidelined them for the remainder of their seasons.

The researchers compiling the data did not name the players, although some have disclosed their own diagnoses. Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez returned to the mound this spring after missing the 2020 season following his covid and myocarditis diagnoses. Similarly, Buffalo Bills tight end Tommy Sweeney was close to returning from a foot injury when he was diagnosed with myocarditis in November.

In the college ranks, many assumed Keyontae Johnson — a 21-year-old forward on the University of Florida men’s basketball team who collapsed on the court in December, months after contracting covid — might have developed myocarditis. The Gainesville Sun reported that month he had been diagnosed with myocarditis, but his family issued a statement in February saying the incident was not covid-related and declined to release additional details.

Consequences Still Unclear

Doctors still don’t know how significant those MRI findings of myocarditis may be for athletes. Tests looking for rare medical events often generate more false positives than true positives. And without comparing the results with those of athletes who didn’t have covid, it is hard to determine what changes to attribute to the virus — or what may just be an effect of athletic training or other causes.

Training significantly changes athletes’ hearts, and what might look concerning in another patient could be perfectly normal for an elite athlete. Many endurance athletes, for example, have larger than average left ventricles and pump out a lower percentage of blood with each contraction. That would be a warning sign for patients who aren’t highly trained athletes.

“You can definitely have what we call the gray zone, where extreme forms of athletic cardiac remodeling can actually look a little bit like pathology,” said Dr. Jonathan Kim, a sports cardiologist at Emory University in Atlanta. “Covid has introduced a new challenge to this. Is it because they’re a cross-country runner or is it because they just had covid?”

Moreover, myocarditis is generally diagnosed based on symptoms — chest pain, shortness of breath, heart muscle weakness or electrical dysfunction — and then confirmed by MRI. It isn’t clear whether MRI findings that look like myocarditis in the absence of those symptoms are just as concerning.

“They have normal physical exams. They have normal cardiograms. Nothing else is going on,” said Dr. Robert Bonow, a cardiologist at Northwestern University and editor of JAMA Cardiology. “But when you order an MRI as part of a research study, you start seeing very subtle changes, because the MRI is very sensitive.”

Were they finding “abnormalities” simply because they were looking? Even in patients who die of covid, the rate of myocarditis is very low, Bonow said.

“So what’s going on with the athletes? Is it something related to the fact that they had an infection, or is it something which is very nonspecific, related to covid but not damage to the heart?” he said. “There’s still a great deal of uncertainty.”

Sports cardiologists involved in the pro sports data collection and in writing screening guidelines for athletes said the fact that players were able to resume their seasons without serious heart complications suggests the initial concern was overblown. Of the players who had mild or asymptomatic cases of covid, none was ultimately found to have myocarditis, and none experienced ongoing heart complications through 2020. Many completed their 2020 season and have already started their next one.

“We overcalled it,” Martinez said. “It shows what our guidelines reflected: The prevalence of cardiac disease in this condition is unusual in the athletic population.”

Falling Through the Cracks

Those screening guidelines, published by a group of leading sports cardiologists in October, call for cardiac tests only for athletes with moderate or severe covid symptoms. Athletes with asymptomatic cases or those with mild symptoms that have gone away can return to play without the additional testing. The National Federation of State High School Associations and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine have put out similar guidelines for high school athletes.

But that approach would not flag players such as Demi Washington.

Washington, a 19-year old sophomore on Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team, had a rather mild case of covid. She had shared a meal with two teammates, one of whom later turned out to be infected. Seven days into a two-week quarantine in a hotel off campus, Washington also tested positive, and had to isolate with a stuffy nose for an additional 10 days. She waited for her symptoms to get worse, but they never did.

“It felt like allergies,” she said.

But when her symptoms cleared and she returned to practice, the university required her to undergo several tests to ensure the virus had not affected her heart. The initial tests raised no concerns. An MRI, though, showed acute myocarditis.

Her season was over, but, more importantly, Washington, an athlete in prime physical condition, faced the possibility of losing her life. She learned about Hank Gathers, a 23-year-old Loyola Marymount basketball star who collapsed during a game in 1990 and died within hours. His autopsy confirmed an enlarged heart and myocarditis.

“That really put me on the edge of my seat,” Washington said. “I was like, ‘OK, I have to take this seriously, because I don’t want to end up like that.’”

For months, she had to keep her heart rate under 110 beats per minute. Before, she ran 5 miles a day. With the myocarditis diagnosis, she had to wear a heart monitor, and even a brisk walk could push her above that threshold.

“One time I was walking to the gym and I might have been walking a little fast,” Washington recalled. “My chest got really, really tight.”

By mid-January, however, another MRI showed the inflammation had cleared, and she has since resumed working out.

“I’m so grateful that Vanderbilt does the MRI, because without it, there’s no telling what could have happened,” she said.

She wondered how many other athletes have been playing with myocarditis and didn’t know it.

Cases like Washington’s raise questions about how aggressively to screen. Her condition was found only because Vanderbilt took a much more conservative approach than that recommended by current guidelines: It screened all athletes with cardiac MRIs after they had covid, regardless of the severity of their symptoms or their initial cardiac tests.

Of the 59 athletes screened post-covid, the university found two with signs of myocarditis. That’s just over 3%.

“Is the current rate of myocarditis that we’re seeing high enough to warrant ongoing cardiovascular screening?” asked Dr. Daniel Clark, a Vanderbilt sports cardiologist and lead author of an analysis of the school’s screening efforts. “Five percent is too much to ignore, in my opinion, but what is our societal threshold for not screening highly competitive athletes for myocarditis?”

Even though myocarditis is rare, studies have found that noncovid-related myocarditis causes up to 9% of sudden cardiac deaths among athletes, said Dr. Jonathan Drezner, director of the University of Washington Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology, who advises the NCAA on cardiac issues. Thus covid adds a new risk. The NCAA alone reports more than 480,000 athletes. To provide a sense of scale: If all of them got covid and even 1% were at risk of heart problems, that’s 4,800 athletes.

Waiting for More Data

Doctors are now waiting for the release of data pooled from thousands of college athletes screened after having covid last year. The American Heart Association and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine have created a national registry to track covid cases and heart disease in NCAA athletes, with more than 3,000 athletes enrolled, while the Big Ten conference is running its own registry.

That registry data may eventually help parse who is most at risk for heart complications, target who needs to be screened and improve the reliability of the tests. Doctors may discover that some symptoms are better indicators of risk than others. And down the road, genetic testing or other types of tests could identify who is most vulnerable.

But will smaller schools have the resources and know-how to screen all their athletes?

“How about all the junior colleges, all the Division III programs, the Division II programs?” Martinez said. “A lot of them are saying, ‘Look, forget it. If we have do all this extra testing, we can’t do it.’”

He said the new pro sports data should reassure those colleges and even high schools, because the vast majority of young, healthy athletes who contract covid generally have mild or asymptomatic infections, and won’t need further testing.

The same guidelines apply to recreational athletes. Those with mild or asymptomatic covid can slowly resume exercising once their symptoms resolve without much concern. Those with moderate or severe cases should talk to their doctors before returning to sports.

Concerns for Small Schools

Large, wealthy universities like Vanderbilt have cutting-edge medical facilities with the resources and expertise to properly interpret cardiac MRIs. Smaller schools could struggle to get their athletes screened.

“There’s only a small number of centers around the country that have the true expertise to be able to effectively do cardiac MRIs on athletes,” said Dr. Dermot Phelan, a sports cardiologist with Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. “And the reality is that those systems are already stretched trying to deal with normal clinical data. If we were to add a huge population of athletes on top of that, I think we would stretch the medical system significantly.”

Some schools with limited resources for testing could decide to bench athletes recovering from moderate or severe covid rather than risk a devastating event. Others could allow athletes to resume playing once they’ve recovered, and then monitor them for signs of cardiac complications. Many NCAA schools added automated external defibrillators after Gathers’ death in case an athlete collapses during a game or practice.

“You think about all the 100,000 high school athletes out there whose parents are concerned: Do they even have access to anyone who knows something about this? On the other hand, they’re younger people who don’t get really sick with covid,” said Dr. James Udelson, a cardiologist with Tufts Medical Center in Boston. “There’s a concern about how much we don’t know.”

Legal Issues

Some schools may also worry about the liability of allowing players to return after a covid infection if they can’t get the proper cardiac screening.

“No matter what precautions a college or university takes in that regard, they can always be sued,” said Richard Giller, an attorney with the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman law firm in Los Angeles. “The real question is, do they have liability? I think that’s going to depend on a number of factors, not the least of which is who recommended that student athletes who contracted covid-19 return to play.”

He recommends that colleges not rely solely on doctors affiliated with the university but have student athletes see their own private physicians to make return-to-play decisions. Teams may also ask players to sign waivers to the effect that if they return to play after a covid infection, they might face cardiac complications.

Some colleges asked students to sign waivers absolving the school if a player contracted covid. But the NCAA ruled that schools couldn’t make those waivers a requirement to play.

Doctors don’t know what might happen over the long run. With barely a year’s worth of experience with covid, it’s not clear whether the myocarditis seen on MRIs will resolve quickly, or whether there might be lingering effects that cause complications years later.

That leaves many concerned about what we still don’t know about covid and the athlete’s heart, as well as the handful of cases that might elude detection.

“You can take a cohort of athletes and put them through every single cardiac test and come out the other end, and one of them will die someday,” Phelan said. “The reality is there’s nothing we can do to be 100% guaranteed.”

ESPN’s Paula Lavigne and Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

USE OUR CONTENT

This story can be republished for free (details).

What Covid Means for the Athlete’s Heart published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

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What Covid Means for the Athlete’s Heart

For sports fans across the country, the resumption of the regular sports calendar has signaled another step toward post-pandemic normality. But for the athletes participating in professional, collegiate, high school or even recreational sports, significant unanswered questions remain about the aftereffects of a covid infection.

This story also ran on ESPN. It can be republished for free.

Chief among those is whether the coronavirus can damage their hearts, putting them at risk for lifelong complications and death. Preliminary data from early in the pandemic suggested that as many as 1 in 5 people with covid-19 could end up with heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, which has been linked to abnormal heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death.

Screening studies conducted by college athletic programs over the past year have generally found lower numbers. But these studies have been too small to provide an accurate measure of how likely athletes are to develop heart problems after covid, and how serious those heart issues may be.

Without definitive data, concerns arose that returning to play too soon could expose thousands of athletes to serious cardiac complications. On the other hand, if concerns proved overblown, the testing protocols could unfairly keep athletes out of competition and subject them to needless testing and treatment.

“The last thing we want is to miss people that we potentially could have detected, and have that result in bad outcomes — in particular, the sudden death of a young athlete,” said Dr. Matthew Martinez, director of sports cardiology at Atlantic Health’s Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey and an adviser to several professional sports leagues. “But we also need to look at the flip side and the potential negatives of overtesting.”

With millions of Americans playing high school, college, professional or master’s level sports, even a low rate of complications could result in significant numbers of affected athletes. And that could prompt a thorny discussion of how to balance the risk of a small percentage of players who could be in danger against the continuation of sports competition as we know it.

Limited Impact on Pro Sports

Data released from professional sports leagues in early March provided at least some reassurance that the problem may not be as great as initially feared. Pro athletes playing football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, soccer and hockey were screened for heart problems before returning from covid infections. The players underwent an electrical test of their heart rhythms, a blood test that checks for heart damage and an ultrasound exam of their hearts. Out of 789 athletes screened, 30 showed some cardiac abnormality in those initial tests and were referred for a cardiac MRI to provide a better picture of their heart. Five of those, less than 1% of athletes screened, showed inflammation of the heart that sidelined them for the remainder of their seasons.

The researchers compiling the data did not name the players, although some have disclosed their own diagnoses. Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez returned to the mound this spring after missing the 2020 season following his covid and myocarditis diagnoses. Similarly, Buffalo Bills tight end Tommy Sweeney was close to returning from a foot injury when he was diagnosed with myocarditis in November.

In the college ranks, many assumed Keyontae Johnson — a 21-year-old forward on the University of Florida men’s basketball team who collapsed on the court in December, months after contracting covid — might have developed myocarditis. The Gainesville Sun reported that month he had been diagnosed with myocarditis, but his family issued a statement in February saying the incident was not covid-related and declined to release additional details.

Consequences Still Unclear

Doctors still don’t know how significant those MRI findings of myocarditis may be for athletes. Tests looking for rare medical events often generate more false positives than true positives. And without comparing the results with those of athletes who didn’t have covid, it is hard to determine what changes to attribute to the virus — or what may just be an effect of athletic training or other causes.

Training significantly changes athletes’ hearts, and what might look concerning in another patient could be perfectly normal for an elite athlete. Many endurance athletes, for example, have larger than average left ventricles and pump out a lower percentage of blood with each contraction. That would be a warning sign for patients who aren’t highly trained athletes.

“You can definitely have what we call the gray zone, where extreme forms of athletic cardiac remodeling can actually look a little bit like pathology,” said Dr. Jonathan Kim, a sports cardiologist at Emory University in Atlanta. “Covid has introduced a new challenge to this. Is it because they’re a cross-country runner or is it because they just had covid?”

Moreover, myocarditis is generally diagnosed based on symptoms — chest pain, shortness of breath, heart muscle weakness or electrical dysfunction — and then confirmed by MRI. It isn’t clear whether MRI findings that look like myocarditis in the absence of those symptoms are just as concerning.

“They have normal physical exams. They have normal cardiograms. Nothing else is going on,” said Dr. Robert Bonow, a cardiologist at Northwestern University and editor of JAMA Cardiology. “But when you order an MRI as part of a research study, you start seeing very subtle changes, because the MRI is very sensitive.”

Were they finding “abnormalities” simply because they were looking? Even in patients who die of covid, the rate of myocarditis is very low, Bonow said.

“So what’s going on with the athletes? Is it something related to the fact that they had an infection, or is it something which is very nonspecific, related to covid but not damage to the heart?” he said. “There’s still a great deal of uncertainty.”

Sports cardiologists involved in the pro sports data collection and in writing screening guidelines for athletes said the fact that players were able to resume their seasons without serious heart complications suggests the initial concern was overblown. Of the players who had mild or asymptomatic cases of covid, none was ultimately found to have myocarditis, and none experienced ongoing heart complications through 2020. Many completed their 2020 season and have already started their next one.

“We overcalled it,” Martinez said. “It shows what our guidelines reflected: The prevalence of cardiac disease in this condition is unusual in the athletic population.”

Falling Through the Cracks

Those screening guidelines, published by a group of leading sports cardiologists in October, call for cardiac tests only for athletes with moderate or severe covid symptoms. Athletes with asymptomatic cases or those with mild symptoms that have gone away can return to play without the additional testing. The National Federation of State High School Associations and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine have put out similar guidelines for high school athletes.

But that approach would not flag players such as Demi Washington.

Washington, a 19-year old sophomore on Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team, had a rather mild case of covid. She had shared a meal with two teammates, one of whom later turned out to be infected. Seven days into a two-week quarantine in a hotel off campus, Washington also tested positive, and had to isolate with a stuffy nose for an additional 10 days. She waited for her symptoms to get worse, but they never did.

“It felt like allergies,” she said.

But when her symptoms cleared and she returned to practice, the university required her to undergo several tests to ensure the virus had not affected her heart. The initial tests raised no concerns. An MRI, though, showed acute myocarditis.

Her season was over, but, more importantly, Washington, an athlete in prime physical condition, faced the possibility of losing her life. She learned about Hank Gathers, a 23-year-old Loyola Marymount basketball star who collapsed during a game in 1990 and died within hours. His autopsy confirmed an enlarged heart and myocarditis.

“That really put me on the edge of my seat,” Washington said. “I was like, ‘OK, I have to take this seriously, because I don’t want to end up like that.’”

For months, she had to keep her heart rate under 110 beats per minute. Before, she ran 5 miles a day. With the myocarditis diagnosis, she had to wear a heart monitor, and even a brisk walk could push her above that threshold.

“One time I was walking to the gym and I might have been walking a little fast,” Washington recalled. “My chest got really, really tight.”

By mid-January, however, another MRI showed the inflammation had cleared, and she has since resumed working out.

“I’m so grateful that Vanderbilt does the MRI, because without it, there’s no telling what could have happened,” she said.

She wondered how many other athletes have been playing with myocarditis and didn’t know it.

Cases like Washington’s raise questions about how aggressively to screen. Her condition was found only because Vanderbilt took a much more conservative approach than that recommended by current guidelines: It screened all athletes with cardiac MRIs after they had covid, regardless of the severity of their symptoms or their initial cardiac tests.

Of the 59 athletes screened post-covid, the university found two with signs of myocarditis. That’s just over 3%.

“Is the current rate of myocarditis that we’re seeing high enough to warrant ongoing cardiovascular screening?” asked Dr. Daniel Clark, a Vanderbilt sports cardiologist and lead author of an analysis of the school’s screening efforts. “Five percent is too much to ignore, in my opinion, but what is our societal threshold for not screening highly competitive athletes for myocarditis?”

Even though myocarditis is rare, studies have found that noncovid-related myocarditis causes up to 9% of sudden cardiac deaths among athletes, said Dr. Jonathan Drezner, director of the University of Washington Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology, who advises the NCAA on cardiac issues. Thus covid adds a new risk. The NCAA alone reports more than 480,000 athletes. To provide a sense of scale: If all of them got covid and even 1% were at risk of heart problems, that’s 4,800 athletes.

Waiting for More Data

Doctors are now waiting for the release of data pooled from thousands of college athletes screened after having covid last year. The American Heart Association and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine have created a national registry to track covid cases and heart disease in NCAA athletes, with more than 3,000 athletes enrolled, while the Big Ten conference is running its own registry.

That registry data may eventually help parse who is most at risk for heart complications, target who needs to be screened and improve the reliability of the tests. Doctors may discover that some symptoms are better indicators of risk than others. And down the road, genetic testing or other types of tests could identify who is most vulnerable.

But will smaller schools have the resources and know-how to screen all their athletes?

“How about all the junior colleges, all the Division III programs, the Division II programs?” Martinez said. “A lot of them are saying, ‘Look, forget it. If we have do all this extra testing, we can’t do it.’”

He said the new pro sports data should reassure those colleges and even high schools, because the vast majority of young, healthy athletes who contract covid generally have mild or asymptomatic infections, and won’t need further testing.

The same guidelines apply to recreational athletes. Those with mild or asymptomatic covid can slowly resume exercising once their symptoms resolve without much concern. Those with moderate or severe cases should talk to their doctors before returning to sports.

Concerns for Small Schools

Large, wealthy universities like Vanderbilt have cutting-edge medical facilities with the resources and expertise to properly interpret cardiac MRIs. Smaller schools could struggle to get their athletes screened.

“There’s only a small number of centers around the country that have the true expertise to be able to effectively do cardiac MRIs on athletes,” said Dr. Dermot Phelan, a sports cardiologist with Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. “And the reality is that those systems are already stretched trying to deal with normal clinical data. If we were to add a huge population of athletes on top of that, I think we would stretch the medical system significantly.”

Some schools with limited resources for testing could decide to bench athletes recovering from moderate or severe covid rather than risk a devastating event. Others could allow athletes to resume playing once they’ve recovered, and then monitor them for signs of cardiac complications. Many NCAA schools added automated external defibrillators after Gathers’ death in case an athlete collapses during a game or practice.

“You think about all the 100,000 high school athletes out there whose parents are concerned: Do they even have access to anyone who knows something about this? On the other hand, they’re younger people who don’t get really sick with covid,” said Dr. James Udelson, a cardiologist with Tufts Medical Center in Boston. “There’s a concern about how much we don’t know.”

Legal Issues

Some schools may also worry about the liability of allowing players to return after a covid infection if they can’t get the proper cardiac screening.

“No matter what precautions a college or university takes in that regard, they can always be sued,” said Richard Giller, an attorney with the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman law firm in Los Angeles. “The real question is, do they have liability? I think that’s going to depend on a number of factors, not the least of which is who recommended that student athletes who contracted covid-19 return to play.”

He recommends that colleges not rely solely on doctors affiliated with the university but have student athletes see their own private physicians to make return-to-play decisions. Teams may also ask players to sign waivers to the effect that if they return to play after a covid infection, they might face cardiac complications.

Some colleges asked students to sign waivers absolving the school if a player contracted covid. But the NCAA ruled that schools couldn’t make those waivers a requirement to play.

Doctors don’t know what might happen over the long run. With barely a year’s worth of experience with covid, it’s not clear whether the myocarditis seen on MRIs will resolve quickly, or whether there might be lingering effects that cause complications years later.

That leaves many concerned about what we still don’t know about covid and the athlete’s heart, as well as the handful of cases that might elude detection.

“You can take a cohort of athletes and put them through every single cardiac test and come out the other end, and one of them will die someday,” Phelan said. “The reality is there’s nothing we can do to be 100% guaranteed.”

ESPN’s Paula Lavigne and Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

USE OUR CONTENT

This story can be republished for free (details).

What Covid Means for the Athlete’s Heart published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

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Explore heart health at Morristown Medical Center Cardiology! Our latest blog covers expert care from specialized heart doctors in Morristown, offering services from preventive care to advanced treatments. Discover our patient-centered approach and community outreach initiatives focused on cardiovascular wellness. Don’t wait for symptoms—take charge of your heart health today! Read the full blog to learn more about how we can help you live a healthier life.

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🎉 Exciting News from Cardiology Associates of Morristown! 🎉

We're thrilled to announce the addition of Dr. Christopher Song to our team this July 2024! 🌟 Dr. Song, a Cornell and University of Michigan-trained specialist, brings expertise in preventive cardiology, lipoprotein disorders, and valvular heart disease. With a background from Mount Sinai Hospital, he's committed to delivering compassionate and high-quality care to our community.

Join us in welcoming Dr. Song to our Morristown office and Morristown Medical Center. Schedule your appointment today and experience exceptional heart care with our growing team! 

❤️ #Cardiology #MorristownNJ #HeartHealth

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Comprehensive Cardiac Care at Morristown Heart Associates

Explore comprehensive cardiac care at Morristown Heart Associates. Our dedicated team of specialists offers expert diagnosis, treatment, and support for all your heart health needs. With a patient-centered approach and cutting-edge technology, we ensure personalized care and effective management of cardiovascular conditions. Contact Morristown Heart Associates today to prioritize your heart health and schedule a consultation with our experienced team.

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Find The Best Cardiologist Hospital in Morristown

Looking for an exceptional cardiologist hospital in Morristown? Explore our distinguished hospital offering top-notch cardiac care and specialized treatment plans. Curious about our renowned cardiologists and advanced facilities? Discover more now!

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Discover the heart of excellence in Morristown's cardiac care landscape. Dive into our blog to uncover the top-notch cardiac surgeons at Morristown Hospital, alongside the expertise of leading cardiologists. Explore how Cardiology Associates of Morristown offers comprehensive care beyond the hospital walls. From cutting-edge surgeries to personalized treatment plans, Morristown is your destination for superior heart health care.

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Check out our latest blog, "What You Need to Know About Cardiologists," to learn about finding a trusted heart doctor in Morristown. Discover the essential role of cardiologists, when to seek help, and what to expect at Morristown Medical Center cardiology.

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Discover expert insights on hypertension care in Morristown! Our latest blog, "Understanding Hypertension: Insights from a Specialist," explores personalized treatment plans and advanced diagnostics at Morristown Medical Center's renowned cardiology department. Whether you're managing hypertension or seeking top-notch cardiovascular care, this post is your essential guide. Read more.

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Elevate Your Heart Health: Morristown Medical Center Cardiology Expertise

Discover superior cardiac care at Morristown Medical Center Cardiology! With a commitment to excellence and cutting-edge technology, our team of skilled cardiologists provides comprehensive services tailored to your heart's needs. From diagnostics to advanced treatments, trust in our expertise to keep your heart beating strong. Elevate your heart health today with Morristown Medical Center Cardiology. 

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Cardiology Associates of Morristown proudly presents a dedicated Cardiovascular Care Group in Morristown. Our experienced team of cardiologists is committed to delivering comprehensive and personalized care for all your heart health needs. With advanced medical technologies and a patient-centered approach, we prioritize accurate diagnoses, effective treatments, and ongoing support.