Review on Cardiorespiratory Complications after SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Young Adult Healthy Athletes

Abstract

This review analyzes scientific data published in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim to report the cardiorespiratory complications observed after SARS-CoV-2 infection in young adult healthy athletes. Fifteen studies were selected using PRISMA guidelines. A total of 4725 athletes (3438 males and 1287 females) practicing 19 sports categories were included in the study. Information about symptoms was released by 4379 (93%) athletes; of them, 1433 (33%) declared to be asymptomatic, whereas the remaining 2946 (67%) reported the occurrence of symptoms with mild (1315; 45%), moderate (821; 28%), severe (1; 0%) and unknown (809; 27%) severity. The most common symptoms were anosmia (33%), ageusia (32%) and headache (30%). Cardiac magnetic resonance identified the largest number of cardiorespiratory abnormalities (15.7%). Among the confirmed inflammations, myocarditis was the most common (0.5%). In conclusion, the low degree of symptom severity and the low rate of cardiac abnormalities suggest that the risk of significant cardiorespiratory involvement after SARS-CoV-2 infection in young adult athletes is likely low; however, the long-term physiologic effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection are not established yet. Extensive cardiorespiratory screening seems excessive in most cases, and classical pre-participation cardiovascular screening may be sufficient.