FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Research continues to show that young athletes who contract COVID19 are at a higher risk of a condition called Myocarditis which leads to inflammation of the heart muscle.
That risk is now leading some experts to suggest screening MRIs for at-risk athletes.
”I think it’s a great way to determine if the inflammation has resolved or if there’s any scar tissue that could lead to other problems such as arrhythmia’s in these athletes,” said Broward Health Cardiologist Dr. Yordanka Reyna.
Reyna said the caveat to recommending Magnetic Resonance Imaging for all athletes include the time involved, as well as the expense which might not be covered by insurance as a routine screening for all competitive athletes.
Meanwhile, the many changes that happen to a woman’s body during pregnancy is an increase in blood pressure, but if it stays high after giving birth, researchers say it could post a long term risk. A recent study done in Pittsburgh found that women who had high blood pressure in the first six weeks after giving birth were highly likely to develop chronic hypertension later in life.
The same was true of women whose blood pressure declined more slowly after delivery. The follow up period for the analysis involving 386 women was between 6 to18 months postpartum.