Prognosis

Heart Injury After Covid Spurs Call to Screen College Athletes

Coronavirus may damage heart without causing obvious symptoms
Cardiac exams may identify athletes at risk of heart injury

Members of the Ohio State Buckeyes run out on to the field prior to the start of the game in 2017.Photographer: Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

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By Jason Gale and Angelica Peebles

September 11, 2020 at 3:00 PM UTC

Updated on

September 12, 2020 at 3:40 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Doctors recommend cardiac screening tests for competitive athletes who have recovered from Covid-19 after a small study found heart damage in 1 in 7 college sports competitors, including in those whose coronavirus infection caused no obvious symptoms.

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging on 26 competitive college athletes who had either a mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection found four, or 15%, with signs of inflammation of the heart muscle. These suspected myocarditis patients were males in their late teens and early 20s, including two who experienced no Covid-19 symptoms, doctors at Ohio State University in Columbus reported Friday in a research letter in JAMA Cardiology.