12-lead ECG in the athlete: physiological versus pathological abnormalities
Population
Athletes
Design
Review
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
May support ECG training in athlete screening; leaves open prospective validation of reduced distress and costs.
Key Points
- To provide an updated clinical framework for interpreting 12-lead ECGs in athletes, accurately distinguishing benign training-induced adaptations from life-threatening cardiac disease.
- Reviewed contemporary evidence and clinical findings on structural and electrical cardiovascular remodelling in trained athletes.
- Categorized ECG features into physiological variations of athlete's heart versus high-risk electrical abnormalities requiring secondary clinical investigation.
- Defined specific 12-lead ECG markers that differentiate training-induced electrical remodeling from underlying cardiomyopathies or channelopathies linked to sudden cardiac arrest.
- Demonstrated that precise electrocardiographic distinction prevents misclassifying benign variants as disease and avoids overlooking lethal cardiovascular conditions.
- Showed that standardized ECG interpretation reduces unnecessary secondary diagnostic evaluations, associated clinical distress, and healthcare costs during preparticipation athletic screening.
Structured PICO
P
Population
Athletes
I
Intervention
12-lead ECG interpretation
O
Outcome
Distinguishing between physiological adaptive ECG changes and pathological ECG abnormalities
Proper interpretation of an athlete's ECG distinguishes normal physiological adaptations from pathological abnormalities, preventing unnecessary distress and saving costs in screening programs.
Cite This Study
Corrado et al. (2009) studied this question.