Assessment of Cardiac Involvement of Common Cold in High Performing Athletes by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Left Ventricular Dilatation in Athletes With Common Colds; a Cardio-vascular MRI Study

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging will be used to assess the impact of common colds and physical training in high-performing athletes. Healthy individuals from the general public will serve as a comparison group. CMR has previously been shown to accurately assess cardiac function, edema, inflammation, and injury.

Athletes competing at National level and Developmental Canadian teams will be prospectively recruited. All participants will have CMR scans at low and high intensity training. Participants will be re-scanned immediately after clinical evidence of a common cold, as determined by respiratory and flu-like symptoms. After 4 weeks, a follow-up CMR scan will be performed. On the day of each CMR scan, electrocardiograms and blood samples will be drawn from each participant. Blood samples will provide markers of systemic inflammation, such as leukocyte counts. At each CMR scan, athletes will be asked to describe there recent history of physical exertion in questionnaires, which will reflect the degree of physical exertion performed.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Ventricular Function, Left
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Cardiac magnetic Resonance study; Procedure: Blood testing

Detailed Description

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging will be used to assess the impact of a common colds and physical training in high-performing athletes. Healthy individuals from the general public will serve as a comparison group. CMR has previously been shown to accurately assess cardiac function, edema, inflammation, and injury.

Athletes competing at National level and Developmental Canadian teams will be prospectively recruited. All participants will have CMR scans at low and high intensity training. Participants will be re-scanned immediately after clinical evidence of a common cold, as determined by respiratory and flu-like symptoms. After 4 weeks, a follow-up CMR scan will be performed. On the day of each CMR scan, electrocardiograms and blood samples will be drawn from each participant. Blood samples will provide markers of systemic inflammation, such as leukocyte counts. At each CMR scan, athletes will be asked to describe there recent history of physical exertion in questionnaires, which will reflect the degree of physical exertion performed.

Image analysis: CMR parameters that serve as surrogate markers for myocardial inflammation will be assessed. Specifically, they include STIR (edema), early enhancement (inflammation), and late enhancement (fibrosis). The presence of 2 of these parameters will indicate the presence of myocardial inflammation. Qualitative and quantitative analysis will be performed on images obtained from CMR scans, and will be assessed offline using CMR42 (Circle International, Calgary) software. Standard methods of assessing edema, inflammation, and fibrosis will be implemented. Standard left ventricular function volume analysis techniques will be implemented to assess left ventricular dilatation.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 100

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Alberta
    • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 2T9
      • Stephenson CMR Centre at Foothills Medical Centre, University of Calgary

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

high performance athletes, during acute viremia and at variable training intensities. Healthy individuals from the general public will serve as a reference group.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Informed consent;
• feverish feeling with last 72 hours;
• active participation in competitive sports;
• history of recent viral exposure or flu-like symptoms.

Exclusion Criteria:

• CMR Contraindications,
• chronic diseases affecting the heart,
• use of immuno-active drugs

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Athletes; high performing athletes	Procedure: Cardiac magnetic Resonance study; follow-up studies; Procedure: Blood testing; Blood sample tested for myocardial biomarkers

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Left-ventricular systolic dysfunction, as defined by increased left ventricular end-diastolic volume	12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Myocardial edema, fibrosis, inflammation, volumetry	12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Calgary
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Matthias G Friedrich, MD, FESC, University of Calgary

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: June 1, 2007
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 20, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 21, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): August 22, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 4, 2011
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 2, 2011
• Last Verified: October 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: athletes
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Picornaviridae Infections; Common Cold
• Other Study ID Numbers: Athletes_001