MDNews - Mid Hudson

" We advise any athlete who competes at the collegiate level to see a sports cardiologist. Additionally, athletes who are older than 40, who have not exercised before or who have heart disease in their family history should be referred to us before they compete, especially in endurance events. We want people to be out there exercising, performing at their highest level, and we want them to do it safely." — M. ZUBAIR JAFAR, MD, DIRECTOR OF INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY AND STRUCTURAL HEART DISEASE AND DIRECTOR OF SPORTS CARDIOLOGY AT HEALTH QUEST a re able to perform screenings to accu- rately deter m ine which at h letes a re at risk," he says. " They ca n recog nize abnormalities on the EKG, on other tests or in fa mily histories a nd collaborate to identif y risk factors." Dr. Ha leem is a n ima g ing specia l- ist, a nd Dr. Lyons has a backg round in HCM a nd was the f irst ca rdiolog ist in the reg ion who was boa rd cer tif ied in adva nced hea r t fa ilure a nd tra nspla nt cardiolog y. Electrophysiolog y a lso plays a n impor ta nt role in the prog ra m. Dr. Ha leem notes that a test used in his discipline of ca rdiac oncolog y now helps him understa nd athletes' hea r ts. " O u r s u b s p e c i a l i s t s c a n d e t e c t subt le cha n ges i n t he hea r t cau sed b y c h e m o t h e r a p y d r u g s ," h e s a y s . " For i n s t a n c e , m y o c a r d i a l s t r a i n i s a mo d a l it y we u s e t o pick up on a bnor m a l it ie s i n t he hea r t mu s cle before they ca n be other wise detected. It was perfected on cancer patients, but now we use it for athletes." T h e p h y s i c i a n s d r a w o n t h e i r w ide-ra ng i ng ex per ience a nd ongo - i n g t r a i n i n g t o de ve lop d i a g no s t ic a lgorithms to interpret athletes' tests a nd screenings. " We ma ke sure our data a re robust a nd a ll our g uidelines a nd a lgorithms a re ba sed on strong, ev idence-ba sed resea rch," Dr. Ha leem says. "For most of t h e p a s t t w o y e a r s , w e ' v e b e e n assembling our team, getting additiona l tra ining a nd equipment, a nd building out our infrastructure." The tea m's additiona l tra ining helps t hem u nderst a nd what cha nges ca n ma nifest in a n indiv idua l's hea r t , a s well as how they ma nifest, he adds. "A r out i n e e c ho c a r d io g r a m t h a t shows adaptive cha nges for someone's exercise level may look abnorma l to a non-spor ts ca rdiolog ist. The sa me is tr ue for EKGs. We seek to minimize the risk of fa lse a larms for athletes who have norma l ca rdiac cha nges based on what they do." WHEN — AND WHOM — TO REFER Hea lt h Quest 's spor ts ca rdiolog ists work with a broad spectrum of patients throughout the Mid-Hudson reg ion, partnering with family providers, car- diologists and pediatricians. They are also glad to work with sports programs at high schools, colleges and military academies, as well as with select students as recommended by coaches or requested by parents. Additionally, they welcome referrals of individual athletes. "If a family medicine physician has a patient with concerning symptoms or a family history of cardiomyopathy or sudden death, or perhaps a patient who wants to begin training after a sedentary period, they should consider a referral," Dr. Lyons says. "The same is true for any athlete who has noticed a change or sud- den decline in his or her performance. All those patients should be referred to the sports cardiolog y program at The Heart Center." To learn more, visit healthquest.org. n Sports cardiology team members in The Heart Center Cardiac Rehabilitation Center of back g rounds. The broad ra nge of cardiologists involved with the program enhances diagnostic capabilities as well. For instance, Dr. Lyons, a hea r t fa i lure specia list, observes that providers' array of diag nostic backg rounds contributes to the prog ra m. "Clinicia ns who a re tra ined in recog- nizing heart failure or cardiomyopathies 1 0 1 0❱❱❱❱❱ C O V E R F E A T U R E

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