{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T03:47:46Z","timestamp":1760240866974,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":14,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,15]],"date-time":"2019-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1571097600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JFMK"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Purpose: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) represents a common congenital cardiac disease (1\u20132%) normally compatible with sports activity. In the case of competitive sports, eligibility can be barred by the presence of symptoms, aortic valve dysfunction, or arrhythmias. This investigation of a large cohort of BAV athletes aims to verify the prevalence of premature ventricular beats (PVBs) found in the exercise test (ET) at the first sports medicine clinical evaluation. Methods: A sample of 356 BAV athletes, regularly examined over a period of 10 years at the Sports Medicine Center of the University of Florence, was retrospectively evaluated for arrhythmic events found in the first sports medicine check-up carried out. The athletes (321 M and 79 F), aged between 8\u201350 years (mean age 21.8 \u00b1 11.6), practised sports at high dynamic cardiovascular intensity (mainly soccer, basketball, and athletics). Criteria for participation included a 2D echocardiography and ET conducted at 85% of maximal effort. Ventricular arrhythmic events were reported if found to be \u22653 at rest and\/or during the exercise test and for subjects with any other cardiac or systemic structural diseases. Individuals aged &gt;50 were excluded from the study. The selected participants were matched with a control group of 400 athletes with similar levels of training (age 20.0 \u00b1 9.9) without BAV. Results: Only 25 (7.02%) of BAV athletes showed PVBs at the ET. A total of 403 single PVBs and four monomorphic couples were observed; a polymorphic pattern was present in only three athletes, and only five had exercise-induced PVBs at peak. None had acute events or major arrhythmias. The difference in PVBs prevalence in BAV athletes vs. controls (PVBs 6.25%) was not significant (p &gt; 0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of PVBs is low in BAV athletes and appears not to differ from athletes without BAV. Despite this, the behaviour of PVBs at the ET should be considered for the major suspicion for arrhythmic events. More data in this field could optimize the cost\/effectiveness ratio for eventual ECG Holter indications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jfmk4040069","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,16]],"date-time":"2019-10-16T03:32:54Z","timestamp":1571196774000},"page":"69","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Diagnostic Pathway and Clinical Significance of Premature Ventricular Beats (PVBs) in Trained Bicuspid Aortic Valve (BAV) Athletes"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4425-2424","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matteo","family":"Donadei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Medicine Unit, Clinical and Experimental Department, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Casatori","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Medicine Unit, Clinical and Experimental Department, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vittorio","family":"Bini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, 06100 Perugia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2054-8650","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giorgio","family":"Galanti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Medicine Unit, Clinical and Experimental Department, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2981-0424","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Stefani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Medicine Unit, Clinical and Experimental Department, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1136\/heart.83.1.81","article-title":"Clinical significance of the bicuspid aortic valve","volume":"83","author":"Ward","year":"2000","journal-title":"Heart"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S454","DOI":"10.21037\/jtd.2017.05.11","article-title":"Bicuspid aortic valve syndrome: a multidisciplinary approach for a complex entity","volume":"9","author":"Lorca","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. 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Cardiol."}],"container-title":["Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2411-5142\/4\/4\/69\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T13:26:31Z","timestamp":1760189191000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2411-5142\/4\/4\/69"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,15]]},"references-count":14,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,12]]}},"alternative-id":["jfmk4040069"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jfmk4040069","relation":{},"ISSN":["2411-5142"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2411-5142"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,15]]}}}