Key result
Among 13,079 Chinese amateur marathon runners, training-related ECG changes were common, while abnormal ECG changes such as ST-segment depression and T wave inversion were found in less than 0.1%.
Why the study?
Preparticipation ECG screening remains controversial, and few large-sample studies have evaluated ECG findings in marathon runners.
Cross-Sectional (n=13,079)
In young Chinese amateur marathon runners, training-related ECG changes are common, while abnormal ECG findings suggestive of underlying pathology are extremely rare.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Supports low pathological ECG yield in Chinese amateur runners; leaves open generalizability and screening implications.
BACKGROUND: The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) has been adopted as an important component of preparticipation cardiovascular screening. However, there are still controversies in the screening and few studies with a large sample size have reported the results of ECGs of marathon runners. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of normal, borderline, and abnormal ECG changes in marathon runners. METHODS: The 12-lead ECG data of 13,079 amateur marathon runners between the ages of 18 and 35 years were included for analysis. The prevalence of ECG abnormalities among different gender groups was compared with chi-square tests. RESULTS: In terms of training-related changes, sinus bradycardia, sinus arrhythmia, and left ventricular high voltage were found in approximately 15, 5, and 3.28% of the participants, respectively. The incidence of right axis deviation in the marathon runners was 1.78%, which was slightly higher than the incidence of left axis deviation (0.88%). No more than 0.1% of the amateur marathon runners exhibited ST-segment depression, T wave inversion (TWI), premature ventricular contraction, pathologic Q waves, and prolonged QT interval. CONCLUSIONS: Training-related ECG changes, including sinus bradycardia, sinus arrhythmia, and left ventricular high voltage, were common in amateur marathon runners. Most abnormal ECG changes, including ST-segment depression, TWI, premature ventricular contraction, pathologic Q waves, and prolonged QT interval, were infrequently found in amateur marathon runners. The data also suggested Chinese amateur marathon runners may have a relatively lower prevalence of ECG abnormalities than black and white runners.
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Xu et al. (2021) conducted a cross-sectional in Amateur marathon runners (n=13,079). Amateur marathon running was evaluated on Prevalence of abnormal ECG changes. Among 13,079 Chinese amateur marathon runners, training-related ECG changes were common, while abnormal ECG changes such as ST-segment depression and T wave inversion were found in less than 0.1%.
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