title: Prevalence and electrocardiographic characteristics of early repolarization pattern in young teen athletes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early repolarization (ERP) is a common electrocardiographic finding. Its potential to cause cardiac arrhythmias has been hypothesized from experimental studies, but it is not known whether there is a clinical association with sudden cardiac arrest.
  
  
  METHODS
  122 subjects (100% males; mean age: 13.5 +/- 2.7 years) were included from a local youth soccer team in Belgium. All subjects underwent physical examination and a 12-lead ECG was taken. The main objective of the study was to evaluate early repolarization patterns and to determine its prevalence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 122 included subjects, 1 subject with Coumel tachycardia was excluded.The overall prevalence of ERP in our study population was 36%, with 9.1% in the inferior leads, 8.2% in the lateral leads and 18.2% both leads. A family history of sudden cardiac death (SCD) was not higher in the group of ERP (N=3; 6.8%) compared to the non-ERP group (N = 4; 5.2%) (P = 0.713). Interestingly, incomplete right bundle-branch block (IRBBB) was significantly lower among all subjects with ERP (N = 15; 34.1%), compared to those without ERP (N = 49; 63%) (P < 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ERP is a common finding in young teen athletes. In this population global ERP (both inferior and lateral) is more common than isolated inferior or lateral ERP. Young age might be a contributing factor in causing a more diffuse repolarization abnormality.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Asmundis
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: Moises
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levinstein
authors.forename: Gian-Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Chierchia
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sieira
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Giovanni
authors.forename: Giannis
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baltogiannis
authors.forename: Michael Hoe Kwung
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarkozy
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brugada
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001530:Belgium; D002648:Child; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology; D013178:Sports Medicine / Q000379:methods