Key result
Diagnosis of pericarditis in athletes requires restriction from sports, with return to play permissible only after echocardiographic and laboratory evidence of active disease resolves.
Provides clinical guidance on the diagnosis, testing, and return-to-play criteria for athletes presenting with acute pericarditis.
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Consider pericarditis in athletes with post-viral chest pain; hypothesis-generating for complication rates, needing prospective validation.
In athletes who present to their team physician with complaints of chest pain, the diagnosis of pericarditis should be entertained. Although generally self-limited, potential complications include cardiac tamponade and recurrent pericarditis. The typical scenario is of an athlete who had a recent viral upper respiratory illness and now presents with chest pain, friction rub, and characteristic electrocardiographic changes. Additional recommended testing includes complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and/or C-reactive protein, cardiac enzymes, chest radiographs, and echocardiogram with Doppler. During acute pericarditis, participation in athletics is contraindicated. Return to play is permissible after there is no longer evidence of active disease. This is confirmed by the absence of effusion on echocardiography and normalization of serum markers of inflammation.
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Seidenberg et al. (2006) conducted a review in Pericarditis. Diagnosis of pericarditis in athletes requires restriction from sports, with return to play permissible only after echocardiographic and laboratory evidence of active disease resolves.
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