RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 ELITE: rationale and design of a longitudinal elite athlete, extreme cardiovascular phenotyping, prospective cohort study
JF BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine
JO BMJ OPEN SP EX MED
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e001505
DO 10.1136/bmjsem-2022-001505
VO 9
IS 1
A1 Juliette C van Hattum
A1 Sjoerd M Verwijs
A1 S Matthijs Boekholdt
A1 Maarten Groenink
A1 R Nils Planken
A1 Adrienne van Randen
A1 Aart J Nederveen
A1 Maarten H Moen
A1 Cornelis A C M Wijne
A1 Joelle J N Daems
A1 Birgitta K Velthuis
A1 Danny A J van de Sande
A1 Ruud Spee
A1 Suzanna T de Vries
A1 Maurits J van der Veen
A1 Yigal M Pinto
A1 Arthur A M Wilde
A1 Harald T Jorstad
A1 ,
YR 2023
UL http://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/9/1/e001505.abstract
AB Introduction The cardiovascular benefits of physical exercise are well-known. However, vigorous exercise has also been associated with adverse cardiac effects. To improve our understanding of cardiovascular adaptation to exercise versus maladaptation and pathology, the limits of adaptation should be firmly established using state-of-the-art diagnostic modalities. We therefore initiated the Evaluation of Lifetime participation in Intensive Top-level sports and Exercise (ELITE) cohort to investigate the longitudinal (beneficial and pathological) cardiovascular effects of intensive elite sports and exercise.Methods and analysis ELITE is a prospective, multicentre, longitudinal cohort study. Elite athletes, from the age of sixteen, are recruited in The Netherlands. The primary objective is to determine the association between elite sports and exercise-induced cardiac remodelling, cardiac pathology, and health benefits over time. Secondary objectives include determining and identifying genetic profiles of elite athletes, and how these are associated with cardiac indices. ELITE will collect data from consultations, electrocardiography, echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and training- and injury data. ELITE will also collect blood for biobanking and cardiogenetics. Follow-up will take place at intervals of two to five years, and after the elite athletes’ professional careers have ended. In addition, a subcohort of ELITE has been established to investigate cardiac sequelae following infections associated with myocardial involvement, including SARS-CoV-2. ELITE is a prospective observational study; therefore, analyses will be primarily explorative.Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Review Board of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers (NL71682.018.19). The results of the study will be disseminated by publication in peer-reviewed journals (Netherlands Trial Register number: NL9328).Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study.