Annals of Medicine

Sports cardiology is a rapidly growing field within cardiovascular medicine specifically for athletes and highly active people. It incorporates components of preventive cardiology, imaging, genetics, electrophysiology, and heart failure. An understanding of this field is important among non-cardiovascular specialists as initial screening is typically performed by physicians without training in cardiology, such as practitioners in sports medicine and primary care.

One facet of preventive sports cardiology includes preventing and managing a major cardiac event such as myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac arrest, or death in an athlete. This has two major components: First, preparticipation screening with appropriate testing, management and follow-up as indicated. Second, emergency action planning (EAP) for such a cardiac event. Shared decision-making in athletes with identified genetic, structural, or electrical risk factors to address return-to-sport is critical in follow-up. Preventive sports cardiology also includes identification and management of cardiovascular conditions and risk factors, such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, and atrial fibrillation, among other conditions.

This collection should focus on:

• Controversies regarding preparticipation screening; g., differences in ACC/AHA vs ESC guidelines, spectrum of pre-participation strategies
• Aspects of shared decision-making regarding return-to-sport after en event, abnormal screening, diagnosis of genetic or structural heart disease
• Associations between high volume exercise and pathology, e., risk of atrial fibrillation, coronary artery calcification, delayed gadolinium enhancement on MRI vs. known benefits of physical exercise
• Role of EAPs, the robust data behind CPR and EAPs, the core principles of an EAP, current legislative efforts
• Management of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, and other conditions in the athlete

Annals of Medicine accepts the following types of articles:

• Research Article (systematic/meta-analysis reviews and observational studies)
• Review Article
• Clinical Trials
• Protocols
• Case Series
• Commentary

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Dr. Lili Barouch received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. She continued at Hopkins for residency in Internal Medicine, followed by fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease and Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant, after which she joined the Hopkins faculty. Dr. Barouch is an expert in cardiac care for athletes, outpatient management of advanced heart failure and cardiomyopathy, and women’s cardiovascular health. She is the founder and Director of the Johns Hopkins Sports Cardiology Program, which provides expert cardiac care to athletes of all types and abilities. She is an avid runner and triathlete herself, competing in several triathlons and other races per year, including 6 marathons and one full Ironman.

Dr. Barouch Profile | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

The Johns Hopkins Sports Cardiology Program

Alan Jacobsen is a cardiology fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital, who is completing further training in sports cardiology. He is participating in research to evaluate the impact of exercise on desmoplakin cardiomyopathy.

Jacobsen | Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program

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Disclosure Statement: Dr. Barouch and Mr. Jacobsen declare no conflicts of interest regarding this work.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is April 30th, 2024.

When submitting your article, please select the section, 'Sports Medicine & Musculoskeletal Disorders', and the Special Issue, 'Preventative Sports Medicine' from the drop-down menu on the submission system.

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Annals of Medicine is an online, open access, international journal publishing across all areas of medicine and is part of our Elevate Series. This means that you will receive a concierge-level publishing experience, including dedicated support from our expert in-house Editorial team, with guaranteed response times of within 48 hours, an initial decision on whether your article will be peer reviewed within 5 working days, and a first decision on your research within an average of 22 working days.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member). Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is April 30th, 2024.

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article