Evaluating Efficacy of Systematic Screening in Master Basketball Players: Insights into Cardiovascular Risk Detection and Overall Health Improvements

Objectives.
Assess the effectiveness of systematic cardiovascular health screenings in master basketball players for identifying underlying cardiovascular morbidities which untreated can lead to severe cardiovascular events and death.
Materials and Methods.
Master basketball players in Latvia underwent cardiopulmonary stress test. Participants with Electrocardiographic (ECG) deviations from normal health parameters were recommended to do a coronary artery computer tomography. A follow-up with the participants was done to assess their cardiovascular health. All data were collected and analyzed using SPSS Statistics.
Results.
A cohort of 61 master basketball players with a medium age of 64 years (SD 7.8 years) were screened March 2024 – September 2024. During the cardiopulmonary stress test five cases showed a pathological ECG condition requiring further investigation. Four cases during maximal exertion showed myocardial ischemia including one case with a newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation and one of the participants had profound bradycardia with chronotropic incompetence. None of these participants had subjective complaints. On follow-up all the participants with a positive cardiopulmonary stress test had done computer tomography for coronary arteries. In two of the five cases hemodynamically significant coronary artery stenosis was found including a case of incidental finding of lung cancer. Altogether from the cohort 3 (4.9%) of participants were diagnosed with a potentially
life-threatening condition if left untreated.
Conclusions.
Systematic cardiovascular screenings identified potentially life threthening conditions if left untreated for 4.9% of asymptomatic players. The pathologies included coronary artery diease, atrial fibrillation. These findings highlight the importance of proactive cardiovascular health assessments in aging athletes to prevent severe cardiovascular events and improve overall health outcomes.