Prevention & lipidsCohort study
Lifelong endurance exercise and its relation with coronary atherosclerosis
- Prospective observational cohort study
Authors' conclusion
Lifelong endurance sport participation is not associated with a more favourable coronary plaque composition compared to a healthy lifestyle. Lifelong endurance athletes had more coronary plaques, including more non-calcified plaques in proximal segments, than fit and healthy individuals with a similarly low cardiovascular risk profile.
Study context
- Population
- Men with a low CV risk profile, median age 55 years
- Participants
- 191 / 191 / 176
- Exposure
- Lifelong athletes vs Late-onset athletes vs Non-athletes
- Lifelong athletesn = 191
- Late-onset athletesn = 191
- Non-athletesn = 176reference
- Outcome
- Prevalence of coronary plaques (calcified, mixed and non-calcified) on CT coronary angiography
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Coronary plaques
Lifelong athletes vs Non-athletesOdds ratio (95% CI)
≥1 coronary plaque
1.86(1.17–2.94)
≥1 proximal plaque
1.96(1.24–3.11)
≥1 calcified plaque
1.58(1.01–2.49)
≥1 calcified proximal plaque
2.07(1.28–3.35)
≥1 non-calcified plaque
1.95(1.12–3.40)
≥1 non-calcified proximal plaque
2.80(1.39–5.65)
≥1 mixed plaque
1.78(1.06–2.99)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Peak oxygen uptake
Original publication
Lifelong endurance exercise and its relation with coronary atherosclerosis. Eur Heart J. Published 6 March 2023. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehad152
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it