athlete heart covid https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/college-athletes-experienced-heart-damage-after-covid-19-study-67929 titiles like- “Images of the players’ hearts showed signs of inflammation consistent with myocarditis, a rare but potentially fatal condition.” “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 “ The Ny york times said- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/well/move/is-coronavirus-affecting-the-hearts-of-college-athletes.html Is Coronavirus Affecting the Hearts of College Athletes? “In a new study of 26 college athletes who tested positive for coronavirus, four later showed signs of inflammation in their heart muscles.” and my favorite-- CNN says https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/health/covid-heart-inflammation-athletes-study/index.html Covid-19 study suggests to screen recovering athletes for heart inflammation before they return to play “As athletes recover from Covid-19, taking images of their hearts to screen for inflammation may help doctors determine when it could be safe to get back in the game, new research suggests.” Now lets look at this paper and see if this paper says what you think it says or at least does it say what the Big Ten thinks it says!! In the press release for the big ten return to football they say “The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) adopted significant medical protocols including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data-driven approach when making decisions about practice/competition. “ they go on to say “All COVID-19 positive student-athletes will have to undergo comprehensive cardiac testing to include labs and biomarkers, ECG, Echocardiogram and a Cardiac MRI.” The thing I find funny is they say things like ‘data-driven approach but then say things like ‘a positive athlete can not return for a minimum of 21 days’ and athletes must get a cardiac MRI along with a bunch of other non evidence based and non data driven recommendations. BUT this podcast is about the cardiac MRI in athletes so let's look at that paper and why it is dead fricken wrong!! This is a perfect example of why school presidents should play doctor and realistically speaking, I as a doctor don’t want to be a school president. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2770645?guestAccessKey=ad3c4563-167f-452a-917f-7bfe15663b06&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=091120 The paper that has created this cardiac MRI craze is titled - Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Findings in Competitive Athletes Recovering From COVID-19 Infection it was in jama cardiology on sept 11 and they researchers at ohio state did CMR imaging in 26 competitive college athletes who previously had been diagnosed with COVID19. and they found “Four athletes (15%; all male individuals) had CMR findings consistent with myocarditis and Pericardial effusion was present in 2 athletes with CMR evidence of myocarditis.” the authors conclusions, “Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has the potential to identify a high-risk cohort for adverse outcomes and may, importantly, risk stratify athletes for safe participation because CMR mapping techniques have a high negative predictive value to rule out myocarditis.4” they go on to say “cardiac magnetic resonance imaging evidence of myocardial inflammation has been associated with poor outcomes, including myocardial dysfunction and mortality.6 “ this sounds terrible!!! I will give you a second to grab a drink and sit down because I think in the next several minutes you will be both relieved and frustrated about what this article really says. music this was first released by anish koka on twitter but she was spot on and this so(continued)