The influence of personal history of athletic activity on clinical course of cardiovascular diseases in former athletes.

: In this article, the prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias and conduction disorders is evaluated in former athletes with established cardiovascular diseases compared to cohort with comparable demographic profile and prevalence of hypertension and atherosclerosis. It is shown that the group of former athletes had a higher prevalence of hemodynamically significant pauses of asystole (RR 2,94, p=0,044), SA node blocks (RR 5,51, p=0,02) and required implantation of a permanent pacemaker more frequently (RR 5,14, p=0,017). A higher level of sports performance and sports experience are associated with higher risk of atrial fibrillation, and a longer career in sports is associated with higher burden of arrhythmias and dilated atria. The frequency of occurrence of eccentric hypertrophy increased with increasing athletic experience and inversely linked with the period of deconditioning. The changes are most pronounced in elite athletes, mandating the screening of rhythm and conduction disturbances in this subpopulation.