The Electrocardiographic Early Repolarization Pattern in Athletes: Normal Variant or Sudden Death Risk Factor?

The clinical evaluation of athletes during symptom evaluation or pre-participation screening often involves interpretation of the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). Differentiating abnormal ECG findings suggestive of underlying cardiovascular disease from benign findings caused by exercise-induced car...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sports medicine (Auckland) 2012-01, Vol.42 (5), p.359-366
Main Authors: Tanguturi, Varsha Keelara, Noseworthy, Peter A., Newton-Cheh, Christopher, Baggish, Aaron L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptability
Arrhythmias, Cardiac - complications
Arrhythmias, Cardiac - diagnosis
Arrhythmias, Cardiac - mortality
Athletes
Biological and medical sciences
Cardiorespiratory
Cardiovascular diseases
Current Opinion
Death
Death, Sudden, Cardiac - epidemiology
Death, Sudden, Cardiac - etiology
Death, Sudden, Cardiac - prevention & control
Diagnosis, Differential
Diseases
Electrocardiography
Electrocardiology
Evaluation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Global Health
Guidelines
Humans
Mass Screening - methods
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mortality
Observation
Reviews
Risk Factors
Sports Medicine
Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The clinical evaluation of athletes during symptom evaluation or pre-participation screening often involves interpretation of the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). Differentiating abnormal ECG findings suggestive of underlying cardiovascular disease from benign findings caused by exercise-induced cardiac adaptations can be challenging, and recent clinical guidelines have been created for this purpose. One of the most common ECG findings in athletes is the early repolarization pattern (ERP), characterized by diffuse J-point elevation and concave ST-segment elevation, and long regarded as a normal variant. However, recently published data suggest that the ERP may be a marker of increased risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the general population. The observation that the ERP can indicate increased SCD risk has important implications for the clinician charged with the care of athletes. This review will describe the evolving understanding of the ERP and will explore the relevance of the ERP for the care of athletes.
ISSN:0112-1642
1179-2035
DOI:10.2165/11630790-000000000-00000