Sports Medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. The sports medicine specialists establish the assessment of the state of health of patients (sedentary, amateur athlete, agonist and/or professional, disabled athlete) in order to issue a judgment of suitability (or non-suitability) for specific sporting activities.
The Sports Medicine Unit of the Gemelli Hospital Foundation is a Center of Excellence, directed by Prof. Vincenzo Palmieri, Specialist in Sports Medicine and Geriatrics.
The Unit carries out clinical and functional evaluation activities, mainly of a cardiological nature (in athletes with electrocardiographic abnormalities, valvulopathies, etc.), paying particular attention to the study of heart disease at risk of sudden death from sport (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, etc.), with specialist consultations and instrumental examinations of 2nd level including some services. For cardiological and cardiological-sports evaluations, the Unit enjoyes the collaboration of Prof. Paolo Zeppilli, currently Federal Doctor of the Italian Football Federation, one of the leading experts in this field at the national and international levels.
The Unit also performs activities on subjects with disabilities of various kinds in the different ages of life, who carry out or intend to carry out sports activities, in a specially dedicated space, using specific ergometers in compliance with the investigation protocols dictated by the Law for the granting of fitness for competitive sports activity of the disabled athlete (Ministerial Decree of 4 March 1993).
The instrumental examinations performed by our Sports Medicine Unit's Team are the following:
