This post was authored by Jana MH Goldberg, MD, cardiovascular disease fellow at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and a member of ACC’s Sports and Exercise Cardiology Section Leadership Council.

There is one thing that most members of ACC’s Sports and Exercise Cardiology Section have in common – a love for adrenaline. They are often themselves sports enthusiasts, putting in a few miles on the trail before sitting in the conference hall. This adrenaline carries through to the lectures as you can feel the excitement and interest in the room. This is sure to be the case at ACC.16 in Chicago.

We have been talking a lot about exercise prescription, but what about practical insight? Merle Myerson, MD, FACC, will be giving a talk entitled “Why Exercise is Real Medicine: Practical Tips for ‘Prescription’ in Clinical Practice,” during the Lifestyle Medicine intensive. Dr. Myerson, who was an exercise physiologist before becoming a cardiologist, will give a brief overview of the role of exercise in cardiovascular health, forms of exercise (aerobic and resistance), and will go over exercise as a diagnostic tool. She will review how best to give an exercise prescription in terms of duration, intensity and frequency, as well as who to screen prior to beginning exercise. The talk will even cover practical aspects such as whether or not you can code/reimburse for exercise counseling. 

James O’Keefe, MD, will also be giving a talk during the Lifestyle Medicine intensive on another hot topic of the year – “How Much Exercise is Enough and how Much is too Much?” After all, the article “Dose of Jogging and Long-Term Mortality: The Copenhagen City Heart Study” published February 2015 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC)  was one of the top 10 accessed JACC articles in 2015. Dr. O’Keefe will present the latest data as well as personal insight into this controversial area.

We will pick up the ECG debate during the session “ECG Screening in Athletes,” which includes panelists Eugene Chung, MD, FACC, Silvana Molossi, MD, PhD, FACC, Lluis Mont, MD, Michael Papadakis, MD, Elizabeth Saarel, MD, FACC, and Jack Salerno, MD, FACC. Individual talks will be given by Aaron Baggish, MD, FACC, and Dr. Salerno, followed by case-based ECGs.

A very common question encountered by cardiologists is “when can I return to exercising following a heart attack? What can I do?” The session, “Life After MI for an Athlete—Debate” will address those questions as Paul D. Thompson, MD, FACC, and Michael Emery, MD, FACC, co-chair of ACC’s Sports and Exercise Cardiology Section Council, debate giving the “red light” or “green light” for exercise following a myocardial infarction.

The weekend’s poster session are filled with exercise-related topics. Dr. Baggish’s group out of Massachusetts General Hospital has several posters including “The Impact of Age and Completion of a Moderate Distance Running Race on Cardiac Function: Results from P.E.A.C.H.” and “Electrocardiogram Utilization in the Marathon Medical Tent.” There are several other posters from international leaders in exercise. These include “Fatalities in U.S. Triathlons: An Expanded Profile” and “Cardiac Fatigue, Biomarkers and Performance of Recreational Cyclists Engaged in Low Intensity, High Volume Endurance Exercise.” On the preventative front, look out for the poster, “Exercise Program for Cardiovascular Risk Factors Control in Adolescents From Public Schools in Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil.”

One of the major topics in Sports and Exercise Cardiology is prevention of sudden death. The lecture, “Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death in the Athlete,” should not be missed.  Douglas Zipes, MD, MACC, will give an overview of the Bethesda 2016 guidelines, Benjamin Levine, MD, FACC, will discuss the evaluation of syncope and palpitations in athletes, Dr. Chung will review AEDs and preparedness, and Rachel Lampert, MD, FACC, will present on athletes with implantable cardioverter defibrillators. The session will conclude with a year in review of Sports Cardiology by Richard Kovacs, MD, FACC.

Several investigators will also discuss their sudden death prevention work in the poster session “Sudden Cardiac Death Prevention in Sports and Exercise.” This includes topics such as pre-participation screening, the positive predictive value of the Seattle Criteria in collegiate athletes, as well as a new technology called the “Parachute” App, designed as a smart phone app to detect and notify emergency response in the setting of a cardiac arrest.

Fellow in Training (FITs) should be sure to check out the FIT Forum: Mix and Mingle, where you can meet Drs. Emery and Lampert.

Remember it’s “sports” and “exercise” cardiology.  It’s about bringing together cardiologists interested in prevention, healthy lifestyles, and providing great cardiovascular care to their patients. Come to the sessions and take in that energy. I’ll see you there!

Search the ACC.16 App for additional sports-related sessions, and for the most up-to-date times and locations. Be sure to follow @ACCCardioEd on Twitter and use the hashtag #ACC16 to join the conversation.

This post is part of a series of posts from ACC’s Sports and Exercise Cardiology Section. Follow the sports and exercise cardiology conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #SportsCardio.

 

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