[The athletes' ECG and the exercise related sudden cardiac death]

Trachsel, Lukas; Wilhelm, Matthias (2015). [The athletes' ECG and the exercise related sudden cardiac death]. Therapeutische Umschau, 72(5), pp. 303-309. Huber 10.1024/0040-5930/a000680

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Regular physical activity induces structural, electrical and functional cardiac adaptations. The main challenge for the athletes' physician is to distinguish abnormal structural changes of the heart from training-induced adaptations (so-called “athlete's heart”). In athletes with underlying cardiac disease, physical activity may be a trigger, not the cause of exercise-induced tachyarrhythmia's and sudden cardiac death (SCD). To identify athletes with cardiac diseases and increased risk for an SCD, the European society of cardiology (ESC) recommends a pre-participation screening in elite athletes which was adopted by the Swiss society of sports medicine. The screening includes a specific medical history, cardiac auscultation and a resting ECG. Due to the high number of false-positive cases of athletes' ECGs based on traditional criteria, the ESC assessment criteria were adjusted to account for training-related changes of the ECG. The sensitivity and especially the specificity could be improved in the “revised Seattle criteria” in 2014. During the last years main attention has been shifted to the early repolarization pattern: additionally to (endurance-) training there is a clear association with male gender, ethnicity, changes in autonomic nervous system activity and high QRS-voltage criteria

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