Posts by Aaron L. Baggish, MD
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How COVID-19 Affects the Heart, Especially in Athletes
The Cardiovascular Performance Program at Massachusetts General Hospital is designed to care for athletes with cardiovascular disease or risk. Program Director Aaron Baggish, MD, explains how his team is investigating the effects of COVID-19 infection on heart muscles, particularly in athletes.
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Prolonged Symptoms Rare in College Athletes Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection, However, Exertional Chest Pain After Infection Warrants Further Evaluation
Using a nationwide registry, cardiologists at Massachusetts General Hospital determined that few college athletes who develop SARS-CoV-2 infection have prolonged symptoms, but exertional symptoms on return to exercise, especially chest pain, warrant clinical evaluation and consideration of cardiac MRI to assess for inflammatory heart disease.
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College Athletes Unlikely to Have Cardiac Complications from SARS-CoV-2 Infection
In a registry study of 3,018 collegiate athletes undergoing return-to-play cardiac screening after SARS-CoV-2 infection, Massachusetts General Hospital cardiologists and colleagues found a low prevalence of cardiac involvement, and none of the athletes experienced an adverse cardiac event.
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Return-to-Play Screening After COVID-19 for All Athletes
Aaron L. Baggish, MD, of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the senior author of new guidance from the American College of Cardiology for determining when athletes at any level can safely return to play after recovery from COVID-19.
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Plasma Proteins Influence the Impact of Exercise Intensity on Cardiovascular Health
The human plasma proteome is responsive to physical activity in a "dose-dependent" manner and might present novel targets for cardiovascular disease therapies.
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Long-term Endurance Athletes Are at Increased Risk of Aortic Dilatation
Ascending aortic dilatation is more prevalent among aging endurance athletes than in the general population.
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Weight Gain in College Football Players Is Mechanism of Subclinical Cardiovascular Pathology
A three-year study of U.S. college football players demonstrated the emergence and progression of a constellation of subclinical cardiovascular pathologies, and weight gain seemed to be the unifying mechanistic factor.
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Customized Exercise Testing After Unrevealing Standard Test Improves Diagnostic Yield
If standardized maximal-effort, graded exercise testing is inconclusive, same-session customized exercise testing is likely to provide clinically useful information about patients with exertional symptoms suggestive of cardiovascular disease.
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Treating Athletes with Arrhythmias: A Partnership Approach
Caring for athletes with arrhythmias is complicated. Massachusetts General Hospital’s Cardiovascular Performance Program addresses health and athletic goals.
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Football-Specific Cardiovascular Pathology Differs Between Collegiate and High School Players
Among football players, subclinical cardiovascular structural and functional alterations occur after the transition from high school to college, and intra-season weight gain and increased systolic blood pressure seem to be the mechanisms.
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Weight Gain During NFL Career Linked to Post-Retirement Health Problems
Weight gain among elite football players, often a deliberate strategy to improve performance, is associated with a range of post-career chronic diseases, Massachusetts General researchers have determined.
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Competitive Sport Participation Among Athletes with Heart Disease
Aaron Baggish, MD, director of Mass General’s Cardiovascular Performance Program, discusses his team’s focus on quantifying the exercise dose-response relationship by leveraging tools like blood biomarkers and cardiac imaging, with the goal of better understanding the health response to exercise.
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PE Survivors May Benefit from Exercise Rehabilitation
Researchers determined that impairments in exercise capacity in patients following pulmonary embolism were due to deconditioning, suggesting a role for prescribing exercise rehabilitation to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
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#ACC18: A Twitter Roundup
Health care professionals at this year’s American College of Cardiology Scientific Session and Expo discussed late-breaking research, innovative treatment approaches and brand new guidelines. The conversations carried over from the podium and conference halls onto Twitter.
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Mass General team calls for more ‘sports’ in cardiovascular training
Given many competitive athletes and highly active people have an increased risk of cardiovascular events, a Massachusetts General Hospital team offers a core curriculum for sports cardiology and its integration into existing cardiovascular care teams, research, and training requirements and board certification.
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Chronic Anabolic Steroid Use May Damage Heart and Arteries
New research out of Mass General indicates chronic anabolic-androgenic steroid use may be damaging to the heart and the coronary arteries.
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#AHA17 Video: Scientific Sessions in Summary
Mass General physicians presented on the podium, moderated sessions or showcased posters over 50 times at the American Heart Association 2017 Scientific Sessions. Some of them answered the question: “What was the most interesting topic presented at this year’s Scientific Sessions?"
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Strenuous Exercise: Could It Bad for the Heart?
While moderate-intensity exercise is cardioprotective, researchers question high-intensity exercise.
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Redefining Cardiac Remodeling in the Athlete’s Heart
Cardiac remodeling criteria in athletes are under debate. Aaron Baggish, MD, and researchers propose defining it as exercise intensity and duration.
Biography
Dr. Baggish received his medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and then completed internal medicine training and cardiovascular fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. His on-going research focuses on heart function and heart disease in athletic individuals. He is the Director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program, a Massachusetts General Hospital Heart Center program that provides clinical care and exercise testing for active individuals. Dr. Baggish is medical director for the Boston Marathon and serves as team cardiologist for the New England Patriots, the Boston Bruins, the New England Revolution, US Men's and Women's Soccer, and US Rowing.
Cardiovascular Care at Mass General
At Mass General, our world-class physicians and nurses specialize in specific forms of both heart and vascular disease, and work closely together to offer leading treatments and preventive care for cardiovascular conditions.