Sports Cardiology
The LifeBridge Health Sports Cardiology Program offers specialized care to serve the greater Baltimore community by evaluating, educating and treating physically active people of all ages and abilities. Our team offers comprehensive screening assessments (including PPE – pre-participation evaluation prior to starting a structured athletic activity), guidance on resuming athletic activity after a cardiac event, surgery, or procedure and evaluations of impaired physical performance for athletes.
The Sports Cardiology Clinic is housed in a state-of-the-art facility at Quarry Lake in Pikesville, Maryland. It is open to all athletes ages 16 or older who are involved in any level of activity, from recreational athletics to high-level competitive and/or professional sports. We also provide cardiovascular assessments of people in highly active occupations (firefighters, police, trainers etc.).
What We Do
- Perform pre-participation evaluations (PPE) prior to engaging in structured sporting activity
- Provide guidance on resuming athletic activity after receiving cardiovascular diagnosis, procedure or surgery
- Evaluate symptoms such as chest pain, palpitations or shortness of breath that occur during athletic activity
- Evaluate unexplained deterioration in athletic performance
- Discuss controlling cardiovascular risk factors including family history of cardiovascular disease
- Provide comprehensive cardiovascular screening
- Work with schools, athletic programs, gymnasiums, and races to develop emergency action plans and coordinate access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs)
- Achilles Tendon Repair (both open and minimally invasive techniques)
Diagnosis
As part of your evaluation, your provider may refer you to obtain necessary cardiac testing which may include:
- EKG
- Stress Test (various modalities)
- Echocadiogram
- Holter Monitor, Event Monitor
- Wearable Heart Monitors (i.e. Apple Watch, Kardia Mobile, etc.)
- Cardiac MRI
- Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET)
Symptoms
We see patients for a wide variety of needs including:
- Sports screening and pre-participation questionnaires
- Abnormal findings on an EKG, echocardiogram or stress test
- Signs of heart disease found during a routine exam (such as a murmur)
- New symptoms with training or during competition
- Unexplained decline in sports performance
- Congenital heart or vascular disease
- Risk factors or family history of cardiovascular disease or sudden cardiac death
- Advice on regaining athletic performance after a medical or surgical treatment
- Clearance to continue sports participation after a cardiac event or treatment
- Symptoms such as dizziness/syncope, chest discomfort, shortness of breath or palpitations
- Older or untrained individuals who wish to participate in athletic activity.
- People recovering from COVID-19 who wish to resume/start exercise.