Exercise May Trigger Clinical Manifestations of ARVC in Mutation Carriers

In an analysis of data from an ARVC registry, phenotypic expression was strongly associated with endurance athletic activities.

Sudden cardiac death in competitive athletes is generally attributable to underlying heart disease. In patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), rigorous exercise is believed to give rise to malignant arrhythmias. However, recent studies in mice suggest that strenuous activity not only triggers life-threatening arrhythmias in individuals with clinical ARVC, but also increases the risk for disease development in unaffected individuals with ARVC-associated desmosomal mutations. To investigate further, researchers used data from a registry of ARVC patients and their families to evaluate the influence of strenuous exercise on the development of clinical ARVC in humans.

Of 87 ARVC-mutation–positive individuals (age ran…

Reviewing Author

Mark S. Link, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsCirculation; UpToDate

Mark S. Link, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsCirculation; UpToDate

Exercise May Trigger Clinical Manifestations of ARVC in Mutation Carriers

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Reviewing Author