Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Andre La Gerche, St Vincent's Institute, Australia
- Second opponent: Postdoctoral Researcher Marius Myrstad, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Norway
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor II Ida Kristin Bos-Haugen, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Are Martin Holm, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Øyvind Haugen Lie, Group leader and Consultant interventional cardiologist, Oslo University Hospital
Summary
This thesis is within the field of cardiology, with a focus on sports cardiology, cardiac imaging, and heart rhythm disorders. It investigates exercise-induced arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (EiAC), a proposed condition in highly exercise-exposed individuals with ventricular arrhythmias (VA), and compares its long-term course with inherited arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). The thesis also examines how previous exercise exposure is associated with VA, atrial fibrillation (AF), and arrhythmic patterns in inherited ARVC.
The studies were observational and based on clinical follow-up of patients with EiAC and inherited ARVC. Data included self-reported exercise history, repeated echocardiography, and documented arrhythmic events.
During long-term follow-up, myocardial structure and function remained relatively stable in EiAC, while inherited ARVC showed progressive right ventricular deterioration. Despite these different myocardial courses, life-threatening VA were frequent in both populations.
In inherited ARVC, higher previous exercise intensity was associated with earlier and more frequent VA and AF, with the strongest association observed for VA. Higher exercise exposure was also associated with differences in arrhythmic patterns.
Overall, the findings show different patterns of myocardial disease progression in EiAC and inherited ARVC despite a similarly high occurrence of life-threatening VA. They also show that exercise exposure is relevant to arrhythmic disease expression in inherited ARVC.
Additional information
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