Key result
High-level sport training was associated with resting electrocardiogram abnormalities in 90.5% of athletes, most commonly sinus bradycardia (72.5%) and early repolarization syndrome (47%).
Why the study?
Elite sport induces electrocardiogram changes ranging from minor to potentially causing sudden death, prompting the need to describe resting electrocardiogram features in top athletes in Bobo-Dioulasso.
Cross-Sectional (n=200)
No
Top-level athletes frequently exhibit physiological ECG changes such as sinus bradycardia and hypertrophy, highlighting the need for practitioners to differentiate these from pathological heart disease.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Common ECG findings in athletes warrant differentiation from pathology; leaves open generalizability beyond this cohort.
Elite sport results in electrocardiogram changes. Some are minor, others are likely to cause sudden death. The authors intended to describe the electrocardiogram features of top athletes at rest in Bobo-Dioulasso. This descriptive transversal study was carried out from August 2015 to February 2016 in the cardiology department of CHU Sanou Souro in Bobo-Dioulasso. The study sampled top athletes aged 17 to 35 with at least eight hours’ training per week for more than six months regardless of the type of discipline. Two hundred top-level athletes from 4 sport disciplines were included. The median age of athletes was 24 years (IIQ: 21 -27). The median duration in high level sport was 6 years (IIQ: 4 - 8) and the median length of weekly training sessions was 10 hours (IIQ: 10 - 10). Only 4% of the athletes had already conducted an Electrocardiogram (ECG). ECG abnormalities were reported in 90.5% of cases and sinus bradycardia was the most common abnormality reported in 72.5% of cases. Left ventricular and left atrial hypertrophy were reported in 44% and 34.5% of cases respectively. Early repolarization syndrome was registered in 47% of cases. Practicing top-level sport activity can result in electrical changes with athletes. These changes need to be identified by practitioners so that the can differentiate them from heart diseases.
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Tougouma et al. (2019) conducted a cross-sectional in Top athletes (n=200). High level sport training was evaluated on Electrocardiogram abnormalities at rest. High-level sport training was associated with resting electrocardiogram abnormalities in 90.5% of athletes, most commonly sinus bradycardia (72.5%) and early repolarization syndrome (47%).
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