Sports medicine is decisive in the timely detection of health problems. Therefore, the 26 veteran athletes of the Lisbon handball team LX50, aged between 35 and 65, undertook a sports medical check-up at Hospital da Luz Coimbra. The exams were followed in a reportage of “Portugal em Direto” TV show, broadcasted on RTP this April 26. The sports medical check-up included laboratorial analyses, cardiovascular evaluation with echocardiogram and stress test , besides a medical consultation . “This is vital to evaluate the condition of the athlete and a unique opportunity to detect pathologies in subclinical stage, particularly those with potential to evolve to sudden death”, highlights António Cruz Ferreira , especialist in Sports Medicine at Hospital da Luz Coimbra. Paulo Jorge Dinis , specialist in Sports Cardiology at Hospital da Luz Coimbra, explains that the electrocardiogram (ECG) is the recommended universal screening exam, but in the case of veteran athletes – that is to say, over 35 years-old –, a “more extensive evaluation” is needed, as in this age range the main cause of sudden death is coronary arterial disease. “The ECG, carried out at rest, may not detect the disease, therefore a stress test is necessary to exclude the presence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease”, he adds. Paulo Paiva dos Santos, president of the LX50 Handball, justifies this way the option to carry out this kind of clinical assessment: “We are a club invested in the future, that considers and protects the main active of sport: the athletes. We invest in sports medicine – integrating other valences, such as psychology, methodology of training, biometry and sleep analysis –, because we believe that the difference in terms of victories is more and more ensured by the improvement in anatomo-physiological aspects”. One other exam carried out by the LX50 Handball athletes was the echocardiogram . Some of the athletes examined had a sportive history of three or four decades of practise of regular physical exercise, which can produce structural, functional and electrical alterations at cardiovascular level (the so-called “athlete’s heart”). The echocardiogram assesses the presence of these alterations and if they are physiological, as well as the existence of valvulopathies, assesses the dimension of cavities and thickness of walls, contractility and relaxation of the cardiac muscle”, explains the cardiologist Paulo Dinis. As for the medical consultation , it takes a preventive approach of cardiovascular risk factors , evaluates the musculoskeletal system and remaining systems to decide on the athlete’s fitness for sports practise. “The guarantee of safety of all sports actors can only be ensured through this kind of actions, resorting to the best evidence and scientific knowledge”, supports the physician António Cruz Ferreira. For Pedro Beja Afonso, the director of Hospital da Luz Coimbra, the coming of LX50 Handball athletes to this unit has a special meaning: “We are developing a very consistent project in the scope of Sports Medicine and we count with excellent professionals in the area. The trust placed by the LX50 team in our hospital is a sign that we are in the right path”. In the photo above, athletes of LX50 Handball and Hospital da Luz Coimbra professionals. Reportage broadcasted on “Portugal em Direto” (starting on 03:50)
