Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40082373›Full record

ArticleHigh blood pressure & cardiovascular prevention : the official journal of the Italian Society of Hypertension2025

Pre-participation Cardiovascular Evaluation for Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Elite Athletes: The Italian Experience.

Maria Rosaria Squeo, Armando Ferrera, Giuseppe Di Gioia, Federica Mango, Viviana Maestrini, Sara Monosilio, Erika Lemme, Simone Crotta, Alessandro Spinelli, Andrea Serdoz and 6 more

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Article in High blood pressure & cardiovascular prevention : the official journal of the Italian Society of Hypertension, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Sporting Careers After ICD Implantation in Elite Athletes.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Maria Rosaria SqueoInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy. mariarosaria.squeo@coni.it.
Armando FerreraInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Giuseppe Di GioiaInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Federica MangoInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Viviana MaestriniInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Sara MonosilioInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Erika LemmeInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Simone CrottaInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Alessandro SpinelliInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Andrea SerdozInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Roberto FioreInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Domenico ZampaglioneInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.
Cosimo Damiano DanielloCareggi University Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Massimo VolpeDepartment of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Rome Sapienza and IRCCS San Raffaele, Rome, Italy.
Marco BernardiDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology "V. Erspamer", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Antonio PellicciaInstitute of Sports Medicine and Science, National Italian Olympic Committee, Largo Piero Gabrielli, 1, 00197, Rome, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionOlympic athletes represent a special subset of the athletic population and deserve a specialized medical approach. In view of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, we developed and implemented a comprehensive medical protocol including (other than the standard screening with ECG, physical and history) cardiopulmonary exercise test, echocardiography and full blood and urine tests.

aimOur aim was to assess the prevalence and type of cardiovascular abnormalities in athletes candidate to Paris 2024 Olympic Games, after implementation of this Olympic medical program.

methodsWe enrolled 772 elite athletes, who underwent a comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation, including full panel of blood and urine tests, electrocardiography, trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) and a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET).

resultsOf the 772 elite athletes, 363 (47%) were female. A substantial subset of 145 athletes (18.8%) showed one or more abnormalities. Specifically, either abnormal basal ECG findings (n = 26, 17.9%), abnormal TTE results (n = 45, 31%), high blood pressure (n = 2, 1.4%) or exercise induced arrhythmias (n = 49, 33.8%) were detected. 10 athletes (6.9%) showed both abnormal ECGs and exercise induced arrhythmias, and 13 athletes (9%) showed both ECG and echocardiographic abnormal findings. After further and more detailed investigations, of the 145 athletes showing cardiovascular abnormalities at the initial screening, in 4 of them were cardiac conditions implying potential risk of sudden cardiac death were identified and therefore they were withdrawn from competitive sport. Full blood test analysis identified metabolic abnormalities in 200 subjects. Of these, 165 (21%) showed hypercholesterolemia.

conclusionsOlympic athletes, despite the highest level of physical performance, are not exempt from cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, including a small proportion of cardiac conditions at risk of SCD. More advanced diagnostic tools, including CPET, echocardiography and full blood tests, implemented in our protocol, were required to identify hidden cardiovascular abnormalities that could have jeopardized athlete's health and performance.

Indexed as

AthletesCardiovascular DiseasesAdolescentAdultAnniversaries and Special EventsEchocardiographyElectrocardiographyExercise TestFemaleHeart Disease Risk FactorsHumansItalyMalePredictive Value of TestsPrevalenceRisk AssessmentCardiovascular pre-participation screeningCardiovascular preventionElite athletesOlympic games

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.