title: Prevalence of early repolarization patterns in a French military population at low cardiovascular risk: implications for preventive medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early repolarization pattern (ERP) associated with a risk of sudden death has recently been described. Very few studies have examined the prevalence of this pattern in a military population characterized by a predominance of young, active male subjects. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of ERP in a healthy military population free of heart disease but subjected to extreme and potentially arrhythmogenic physical activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective, multicenter study was carried out from November 2010 to November 2011 and included 746 individuals undergoing ECG screening; 466 were men (62.4%) and 280 were women (37.5%). Each ECG was interpreted twice by trained cardiologists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total prevalence of ERP was 13.8% (103/746); 16% (46/280) in women and 12% (57/466) in men (P > 0.05). It declined with age and the pattern of slurring in inferior location was the most common. Heart rate was significantly lower in military officers with ERP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ERP was commonly found in this healthy military population. Preventing the risk of sudden death in this population requires systematic ECG screening, medical history analysis and clinical examination to identify symptomatic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Clermont Tonnerre Hospital of Military Training, 29240, Brest, France.
authors.forename: Ulric
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Vinsonneau
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pinon
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Paleiron
authors.forename: Gwenole
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rohel
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piquemal
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Desideri-Vaillant
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castellant
authors.forename: Jérome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abaléa
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Valls-Bertaut
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carré
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mansourati
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paule
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D011315:Preventive Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cardiovascular; early repolarization; military; prevalence; preventive medicine
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