Open AccessEarly repolarization in athletes
Author(s) -
Aizawa Yoshiyasu,
Kawamura Akio
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of arrhythmia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.463
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1883-2148
pISSN - 1880-4276
DOI - 10.1002/joa3.12247
Subject(s) - medicine , sinus bradycardia , benign early repolarization , right bundle branch block , cardiology , qrs complex , sudden cardiac death , athletes , left ventricular hypertrophy , j wave , population , t wave , electrocardiography , st segment , bradycardia , physical therapy , heart rate , blood pressure , myocardial infarction , environmental health
The athletes’ heart is associated with physiological, structural, and electrical remodeling by repetitive physical training that contin‐ uously increases the cardiac output. The remodeled heart, sports heart, is often associated with ECG changes. This condition is gen‐ erally benign but ECG abnormalities may reflect an underlying heart disease that could lead to sudden death during exercise in rare cases. It is essential to recognize the benign and malignant ECG changes resulting from physical training. In our country, annual health exam‐ inations are widely performed and include ECG screening generally performed during the first grade of elementary school, and junior and senior high school. Some patients then visit hospitals for ab‐ normal ECG findings during the periodic and lifetime screening. The presence of T‐wave inversion as well as an early repolarization (ER) pattern are the main reasons for consultation with a cardiologist. In general, common abnormal ECG findings in athletes include sinus bradycardia, first degree AV block, incomplete right bundle branch block, ER, and an isolated QRS voltage criteria for left ventricular hy‐ pertrophy.1 T‐wave inversion and a Brugada‐like ER are less common ECG findings in athletes.