Mitral and Tricuspid Valve Disease in Athletes

Observing mitral or tricuspid valve disease in an athlete raises many considerations for the clinician. Initially, the etiology must be clarified, with causes differing depending on whether the athlete is young or a master. Notably, vigorous training in competitive athletes leads to a constellation of structural and functional adaptations involving cardiac chambers and atrioventricular valve systems. In addition, a proper evaluation of the athlete with valve disease is necessary to evaluate the eligibility for competitive sports and identify those requiring more follow-up. Indeed, some valve pathologies are associated with an increased risk of severe arrhythmias and potentially sudden cardiac death. Traditional and advanced imaging modalities help clarify clinical doubts, allowing essential information about the athlete's physiology and differentiating between primary valve diseases from those secondary to training-related cardiac adaptations. Remarkably, another application of multimodality imaging is evaluating athletes with valve diseases during exercise to reproduce the sport setting and better characterize the etiology and valve defect mechanism. This review aims to analyze the possible causes of atrioventricular valve diseases in athletes, focusing primarily on imaging applications in diagnosis and risk stratification.

Automated summary

Observing mitral or tricuspid valve disease in athletes raises important considerations regarding etiology, eligibility for competitive sports, and the risk of severe arrhythmias. Imaging modalities play a crucial role in diagnosing and stratifying the risk of valve diseases in athletes, providing essential information about physiology and differentiating primary valve diseases from those secondary to cardiac adaptations related to training. Evaluating athletes during exercise using multimodality imaging can help reproduce the sport setting and better characterize the etiology and mechanism of valve defects.