Former National Football League (NFL) players were found to have enlarged aortas, which increases their risk of developing aneurysms, reveals a new study. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).//
‘High blood pressure, smoking and connective tissue disorders are some of the risk factors that could lead to the enlargement of the aortas.’
Tweet it Now
The aorta, the largest artery in the body, carries blood from the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber, to the rest of the body. The short section that rises from the left ventricle and supplies the coronary arteries with blood is called the ascending aorta. Enlargement, or dilation, of the ascending aorta can increase the chances of a life-threatening aneurysm. Risk factors for dilation include high blood pressure, smoking and connective tissue disorders.
"Patients whose ascending aortas are more than 4 centimeters in diameter are generally considered to have dilation, which can progress over time and potentially weaken the wall of the aorta," said study author Christopher Maroules, M.D., formerly of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and current chief of cardiothoracic imaging at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va.
For the new study, Dr. Maroules and colleagues evaluated whether past participation in the NFL is associated with increased prevalence of ascending aortic dilation.
The research arose from observations made by the study's principal investigator Dermot Phelan, M.D., Ph.D., from Cleveland Clinic, who has worked closely over the years with the NFL, studying the cardiovascular health of retired players.
Advertisement
Compared to the control group, former NFL athletes had significantly larger ascending aortic diameters. Almost 30 percent of the former NFL players had an aorta wider than 4 centimeters, compared with only 8.6 percent of the non-players.
Advertisement
The coronary artery calcium scores were similar in both groups.
"In former NFL athletes, there was a significantly higher proportion of aortic dilation compared to our control group," said Dr. Maroules.
"This process is likely not associated with atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease, because when we compared coronary calcium we found no significant difference between the two groups."
The results suggest that some type of remodeling process occurs in the aorta of athletes who engage in repeated strenuous exercise, according to Dr. Maroules.
"It remains to be seen if this remodeling sets athletes up for problems later in life," he said. "We're just scratching the surface of this intriguing field, and imaging can play an important role in it."
Source-Eurekalert