Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Factors Among Former National Football League Players.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, but prevalence estimates in former professional athletes are limited. OBJECTIVES: HUDDLE (Heart Health: Understanding and Diagnosing Disease by Leveraging Echocardiograms) aimed to raise awareness and estimate the prevalence of CVD and associated risk factors among members of the National Football League (NFL) Alumni Association and their families through education and screening events. METHODS: HUDDLE was a multicity, cross-sectional study of NFL alumni and family members aged 50 years and older. Subjects reported their health history and participated in CVD education and screening (blood pressure, electrocardiogram, and transthoracic echocardiogram [TTE] assessments). Phone follow-up by investigators occurred 30 days postscreening to review results and recommendations. This analysis focuses on former NFL athletes. RESULTS: Of 498 participants screened, 57.2% (N = 285) were former NFL players, the majority of whom were African American (67.6%). The prevalence of hypertension among NFL alumni was estimated to be 89.8%, though only 37.5% reported a history of hypertension. Of 285 evaluable participants, 61.8% had structural cardiac abnormalities by TTE. Multivariable analysis showed that hypertension was a significant predictor of clinically relevant structural abnormalities on TTE. CONCLUSIONS: HUDDLE identified a large discrepancy between participant self-awareness and actual prevalence of CVD and risk factors, highlighting a significant opportunity for population health interventions. Structural cardiac abnormalities were observed in most participants and were independently predicted by hypertension, affirming the role of TTE for CVD screening in this population aged older than 50 years. (Heart Health: Understanding and Diagnosing Disease by Leveraging Echocardiograms [HUDDLE]; NCT05009589).

Surfing.

Surfing is one of the oldest sports known to exist, originating over 800 years ago and spreading from Polynesia to eventually encompass most every corner of the globe. Beginning in popularity with Hawaiian Kings and aristocracy, it has now spread to over 35 million people world-wide, and now is one of the newly admitted sports for the 2020 Summer Tokyo Olympic Games. Surfing abilities and techniques have evolved in parallel with the development of lighter and more versatile surfboards. There are limited studies documenting in depth the frequency and type of acute and overuse surfing injuries, but the sport is deemed to be significantly safer than collision sports like rugby or American football, with most injuries being of mild to moderate severity. Fatal injuries are relatively rare. There are some hazardous environmental injuries, but most are mild in severity and largely preventable. The governance of surfing is under the auspices of the International Surfing Association, which regulates surfing of all types. Multiple non-governmental organizations have arisen which serve to promote the popularity, quality, advancement, research, education and safety of surfing.

The Winged Scapula.

In brief Winging of the scapula most brief commonly results when trauma or overuse injures the long thoracic nerve. However, as these two case studies illustrate, the diagnosis might not be initially obvious, and the etiology can be overlooked. Scapular winging may have an unusual cause. Thus, when the mechanism of injury is not clear, a careful workup is particularly critical. Although most cases of long thoracic neuropathy resolve with conservative treatment, surgery is sometimes needed. Most active individuals can return to full activity.