(CNN) Up to 35 percent of Big Ten athletes who had Covid-19 now show signs of inflammation of the heart muscle, a top Penn State doctor says, reigniting the debate over the safety of playing sports during the pandemic. Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State's director of athletic medicine, revealed that 30 to 35 percent of the cardiac MRI scans conducted on Big Ten athletes who had contracted Covid-19 appeared to show myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. The announcement came during the State College Area Board of School Directors meeting. Some of that has led to the Pac-12 and the Big Ten's decision to sort of put a hiatus on what's happening." "What we have seen is when people have been studied with cardiac MRI scans — symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID infections — is a level of inflammation in cardiac muscle that just is alarming," he said.

Source: CNN September 03, 2020 20:03 UTC