ArticleOpen heart2025
Cardiac structure and function in anabolic-androgenic steroid users: a 16-year follow-up study.
Article in Open heart, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cardiovascular Implications of the Enhanced Games: Performance Enhancing Drugs in Competition and Recreation.Sports medicine - open · 2026Review
- Impact of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Abuse on the Cardiovascular System: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimLong-term data on cardiac changes in anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users are lacking. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of AAS on cardiac structure and function during long-term follow-up.
methodsIn this prospective cohort study, AAS users and strength-trained non-users were included and examined at two time points with echocardiography and coronary CT angiography. AAS use and non-use were verified by blood and urine analyses.
resultsA cohort of 32 AAS users (median age 33 years) and 13 non-users (median age 34 years) were followed for a median of 16 (IQR, 15-17) and 13 (7-15) years, respectively. At baseline, AAS users had been taking AAS for a median of 5-10 years. At follow-up, 15 had discontinued AAS, while 17 remained continued users. At baseline, AAS users presented with larger left ventricular mass (LVM) (266 g (213-319) vs 215 g (196-217), p<0.01), and lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (49% (44-53) vs 53% (51-56), p=0.05), compared with non-users. At follow-up, LVM in discontinued users was reduced and similar to the non-users, while continued users still had larger LVM. LVEF remained significantly impaired in continued users versus non-users (p<0.01). In discontinued users, LVEF seemed to improve over time. The median change in LVEF over time differed significantly between continued and discontinued AAS users (-2 (-6 to 2) vs 3 (1 to 8), p<0.01). Despite higher cardiac troponin T levels in AAS users, coronary artery disease prevalence did not differ between groups.
conclusionLong-term AAS use was associated with myocardial remodelling and left ventricular dysfunction. In AAS users who discontinued use during follow-up, left ventricular remodelling and systolic function seemed to improve, even after more than a decade of AAS use.
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Registered trials
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