Cardiovascular effects and alterations from endurance sports. A systematic review

Abstract

The practice of endurance sports provides health benefits due to cardiovascular adaptation. Nevertheless, there has been a lot of research in which patients have shown some type of ventricular cardiac arrhythmia. This has worried some professionals who have been utilising this kind of training. As a result of this, professionals have begun revising and analyzing the scientific evidence from the last ten years. This investigation was focused on the review of possible development of arrhythmias and cardiovascular alterations that endurance sports can cause. In the following systematic review, we evaluate publications that show a direct relation between endurance sports and cardiac arrhythmias from 2006 to 2016. Twelve articles were identified and then grouped by different effects on the heart. Due to the high levels of cardiac stress that endurance-trained athletes are exposed to, there is a tendency for them to show different types of arrhythmias.