2020 ESC Guidelines on sports cardiology and exercise in patients with cardiovascular disease – key points Review article

Abstract

This year ESC Congress presented new guidelines on exercise in patients with cardiovascular disease. Regular physical activity is a significant component of prevention of cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors widely spread across the population such as: obesity, hypertension or diabetes. Both ESC and WHO recommendations for healthy adults aged 18–64 are at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week. What raises questions, are high-intensity or competitive sports performed by patients with cardiovascular disease, because not every type (aerobic/anaerobic) and intensivity of physical activity is recommended in different stages of certain diseases. This article summarises guidelines on physical training, especially at high-intensity, performed by patients with: hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure, valvular heart disease, arrhythmias, implantable cardiac devices, cardiomyopathies, congenital heart disease, myocarditis and pericarditis. It also contains indices of different types and intensity of physical exercise, cardiovascular risk stratification methods and concrete parameters of additional tests that should be evaluated before the patient starts performing high-intensity exercises.