Cardiac Involvement with COVID-19 in College Athletes

Much remains unknown about how SARS-CoV-2 infection affects the hearts of competitive athletes. Investigators conducted a prospective, multicenter, observational registry study that included people from 42 colleges and universities.

Among the 19,378 athletes enrolled in the registry, 3384 (18%) tested positive for COVID-19. Of the 3018 who qualified for the analysis, 33% were asymptomatic, and 29% had mild symptoms, typically loss of taste or smell (40%), headache (39%), and sore throat (31%). Another 13% had cardiopulmonary symptoms (chest pain, exercise intolerance, palpitations, shortness of breath). Abnormalities were found on electrocardiography (ECG) in 21 of 2999 people, on transthoracic echocardiography in 24 of 2556, and on cardiac …