Ventricular ectopy during a marathon in male master athletes is infrequent, largely benign, and associated with less training and caffeine intake.
Abstract Background and Purpose Participation in endurance sports has markedly increased n recent years, raising interest in the prevention of exercise-related cardiac events such as arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. This prospective, real-world study investigated the prevalence and determinants of arrhythmias during endurance exercise in male master athletes. Methods We enrolled 104 male athletes (30 years) competing in a Marathon. Inclusion criteria were completion time 4 h 15 min, no known cardiovascular disease, and no beta-blocker or antihypertensive therapy. Each athlete was fitted with a lightweight ECG monitor at bib collection, removed at race completion, and subsequently analyzed. Results Of 104 athletes, 13 (12.5%) exhibited 1 premature ventricular beat (PVB) per hour of effective recording. Six (5.8%) had recurrent PVBs, and four (3.8%) showed non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. Among the 57 athletes with 75% analyzable ECG during marathon data, 10 (17.5%) presented ≥3 exercise-related PVBs. Arrhythmias were significantly associated with years of training and caffeine intake during the race (p0.05). Conclusions In this real-world cohort of marathon runners, ventricular ectopy during exercise was infrequent and largely benign. Its occurrence does not appear to result from physiological cardiac remodeling and therefore warrants evaluation when present. Less-trained athletes and caffeine intake emerged as potential contributors. Overall, these findings reinforce the safety of endurance exercise in well-screened middle-aged athletes while supporting individualized risk assessment.
A De Antoni (Mon,) studied this question.