Covid-19

Since December 2019, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a great burden on the health care system and society. At the beginning, pneumonia was a typical sign for an infection with COVID-19. With increasing knowledge, the spectrum of symptoms has widened and the knowledge of consequential diseases and damage continues to grow.

The CoSmo-S-project is a multicenter cohort study for athletes after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background

Strenuous physical activity is characteristic for competitive sports. Therefore, good physical and mental performance are required. Especially, the cardiopulmonary condition is important, because already small losses in cardiopulmonary condition have great impact on success in competitive sports. First studies have shown that COVID-19 isn´t only a disease of the respiratory system, but also has effects on other organ systems such as the cardiovascular system, the nervous system, the kidneys, and the liver. The cardiac manifestation of SARS-CoV-2 is one of the most common complications and is induced by an inflammatory response of our body. Consequently, inflammatory cells immigrate into the heart tissue and induce damages. Myocarditis y arrhythmias are results of such damages of the heart tissue and may lead to an increased mortality. Since myocarditis is one of the most common causes of sudden cardiac death in sports (SCD), myocarditis because of COVID-19 has great relevance in sports cardiology.

Research question & methods

Because of the actual course of the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be assumed, that many athletes themselves are or have been infected with COVID-19 or have at least had contact with an infected person. Therefore, chronic secondary diseases and damages as a result of a COVID-19 infection cannot be ruled out in athletes. The CoSmo-Study is a prospective cohort study, which examines competitive athletes and recreational athletes over a period of 3 years and focuses on the organic and/or functional secondary diseases and damages. So that, new insights about the impairment of physical resilience and performance are obtained and the recommendations for the “Return to Sports” after a COVID-19 infection are concretized.

Results

There are no results available yet.

Rèsumee

For the CoSmo study, our department is collaborating with 11 other sports medicine institutes across Germany and recruiting patients who have participated in regular sports with a training volume of at least three training sessions per week prior to their infection with COVID-19.