Does early repolarization in the athlete have analogies with the Brugada syndrome?
M Bianco, S Bria, A Gianfelici, N Sanna, V Palmieri and P Zeppillif1 Sports Medicine School, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy Received March 28, 2000; accepted April 5, 2000 Abstract Aim To re-examine the prevalence and presentation of early repolarization in athletes and to compare it with electrocardiographic abnormalities observed in patients with the Brugada syndrome. Methods Electrocardiograms of 155 male athletes and 50 sedentary controls were studied. Early repolarization was considered present if at least two adjacent precordial leads showed elevation of the ST segment 1mm. Amplitude and morphology of ST elevation, the leads where it was present and the lead in which it showed its maximum value were analysed together with QRS duration, the presence of right ventricular activation delay, QT and QTc duration. Data were compared with those obtained by electrocardiograms of 23 patients with the Brugada syndrome. Results Early repolarization was found in 139 athletes
