UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute Sports Cardiology Director Leads New Study of WNBA Players Published in JAMA Cardiology

Innovations in Cardiovascular Medicine & Surgery | Winter 2024

NEWS BRIEF

Bradley Lander, MD

Sports cardiologists have previously documented electrocardiography (ECG) changes in male and female athletes. But there has been a lack of good data about women who play basketball – until now. Bradley Lander, MD, Director of Sports Cardiology at UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute and the first cardiologist in the country to complete fellowship training in both sports cardiology and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is lead author of a new study in JAMA Cardiology, looking specifically at ECG data among players in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Dr. Lander and colleagues gathered data from 173 players during pre-season ECG and echocardiography cardiac screening between April and May 2022. Results show that 78.6% of the WNBA players had training-related ECG findings. For example, 47.1% had left ventricular adaptations associated with athletic remodeling of the heart, generating a training-related ECG finding. The research team also found that fewer than 5% (4.6%) of athletes had an abnormal ECG finding according to the International Recommendations for Electrocardiographic Interpretation in Athletes. These included T-wave inversions (3 athletes [1.7%]), Q waves (2 athletes [1.2%]), prolonged QTc interval (2 athletes [1.2%]), and frequent premature ventricular contractions (1 athlete [0.6%]).

Dr. Lander and colleagues then compared these data to what is known about other elite athletes. They found that WNBA players had lower rates of abnormal ECG compared to female professional soccer players, but similar rates to elite rowers. In addition, WNBA players had lower rates of abnormal ECG compared to historical data from male NBA players.

“These data help to demonstrate that ECG patterns, including the prevalence of abnormal ECG classification, vary both between sex and sports,” the authors write. “Generation of additional female- and sport-specific data sets will further refine cardiac screening and care for athletes across all sporting disciplines.”

Dr. Lander says he believes this study will be useful to basketball programs that are considering using ECGs as part of their screening protocol, as well as to clinicians caring for female athletes, particularly those who play basketball.