ESC Study Group of Sports Cardiology

The below article is part of a Special Collections in Sports Cardiology Currently hosted on the European Journal of Cardiovascular Rrevention and Rehabilitation. If you are a sbscriber this journal you will have full access to 8 articles collection. However the only article currently freelly avaible on this promotion website is:

ESC Study Group of Sports Cardiology: recommendations for participation in leisure-time physical activity and competitive sports for patients with ischaemic heart disease
 

Evidence for the proper management of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in the general population is well established. However, recommendations for physical activity and participation in competitive sports for people with IHD are relatively scarce.
The targets of these recommendations (termed 'active individuals with IHD' throughout) are: (1) individuals with IHD engaged in regular exercise training, including those participating in official sports competitions (competitive sports); but also (2) those being physically active in leisure-time activities, including recreational sports.

These recommendations aim to complement the current European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recommendations on cardiac rehabilitation, primary/secondary prevention and also the ESC recommendations and the Bethesda recommendations, both specifically targeting athletes.
Medical treatment of ischaemic heart disease falls outside the scope of this article, and is included in the guidelines for treatment of stable angina from the ESC. Due to the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, athletes are commonly described as 'young athletes' (<35 years) and 'older athletes' (≥35 years). To comply with the majority of other cardiovascular literature, we are using the cut-off point of 35 years. However, in competitive sports the term 'Master athletes' is used, and refers to the age of 40 years and older.  Please note that due to lack of studies in this field, the level of evidence for these recommendations are low (level of evidence C) with a few exceptions (unstable angina) and are the results of consensus among experts.  Also please note that we have used the classification of sports used in the Bethesda recommendations (Table 1) and in the ESC recommendations, published in 2005.

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