Testing during exercise best way to detect heart problems in endurance athletes

Endurance athletes, such as marathoners and long-distance cyclists, can sometimes develop heartbeat irregularities, known as arrhythmia. Left undetected, these heart conditions can be fatal and are often the cause of sudden deaths which occasionally occur on marathon courses.

New evidence has now shown that in order to properly diagnose heart problems in endurance athletes, doctors must test athletes during exercise, or they risk missing signs of dysfunction in the right ventricle of the heart. Currently, the procedure for testing athletes is to assess the heart while at rest and often with an emphasis on the left ventricle. Research has already determined that the right ventricle of the heart, which is responsible for pumping blood to the lungs, undergoes more stress during exercise than the left ventricle.

The study, undertaken by Professor La Gerche and recently published in the European Heart Journal, involved testing the performance of 17 athletes with previously identified right ventricular arrhythmias (eight of whom had implanted cardiac defibrillators), 10 healthy athletes and seven non-athletes. Researchers found that the functioning of the heart seemed the same in all three groups while resting, but that in the athletes with arrhythmias, the right side was weak during exercise. These findings were determined using echocardiography, a non-invasive technique which uses ultrasound.

This is certainly not to say that endurance exercise is not good for the heart. On the contrary, cardiovascular exercise has long been a staple in maintaining a healthy circulatory system. However, athletes, particularly those participating in long-distance events, should be cognizant of any changes they notice in their heartbeat or physiological reactions to exercise and contact their doctor if they have any concerns.