A b s t r a c t Background:The prevalence and significance of the early repolarisation (ER) pattern in the general population has raised a number of questions. Even less data are available on athletes. Aim:To determine the prevalence and determinants of ER in a group of young high endurance athletes. Methods:We studied 117 rowers (46% women, mean age 17.5 ± 1.5 years, mean training duration 4.3 ± 1.8 years). On 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), we evaluated inferolateral leads for the presence of the ER pattern, defined as at least 0.1 mV elevation of the QRS-ST junction (J point) from the baseline in at least two leads. All subjects underwent detailed echocardiographic study, cardiopulmonary exercise test with evaluation of VO 2 max (mean 57.1 ± 8.4 mL/kg/min), and evaluation of complete blood count and biometric parameters (fat tissue, body mass index, body surface area). Results:We identified 35 subjects with ER in the inferior and/or lateral leads. The phenomenon was more frequent in males (n = 25, 21.36% of the overall study population) than in females (n = 10, 8.54%, p = 0.01). The training duration in both groups (with or without ER) was similar (4.4 ± 1.5 vs. 4.3 ± 1.8 years, p > 0.05). Athletes with the ER pattern had significantly higher VO 2 max (58.8 ± 7.8 vs. 55.3 ± 8.2 mL/kg/min, p = 0.03), lower resting heart rate (58.7 ± 11.3 vs. 65.4 ± 11.9 bpm, p < 0.01), higher haemoglobin level (15.2 ± 0.8 vs. 14.6 ± 1.2 g/dL, p < 0.01), higher red blood cell count (5.31 ± 0.3 vs. 4.98 ± 0.4 million/µL, p = 0.04), and lower fat tissue mass (12.1 ± 4.4 vs. 14.9 ± 6.0 kg, p < 0.01). Compared with the others, the ER group was characterised by a higher left atrial area index (12.2 ± 1.3 vs. 11.5 ± 1.6 cm 2 /m 2 , p = 0.01), right atrial area index (9.9 ± 1.3 vs. 9.0 ± 1.4 cm 2 /m 2 , p < 0.01), and right ventricular basal diameter index (2.0 ± 0.2 vs. 1.9 ± 0.2 cm/m 2 , p = 0.04). We found no significant differences in any other cardiac size and function parameters.Conclusions: ER pattern in the inferior and/or lateral leads is a frequent finding in the population of young high endurance rowers. The presence of ER pattern is associated with gender and a number of parameters reflecting the general level of fitness and may be considered an electrophysiological sign of the athlete's heart. The significance of these alterations should be evaluated in prospective follow-up studies.

The study was designed to assess the usefulness of routine electrocardiography (ECG) as well as transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in screening top level endurance athletes. An additional goal was to attempt to identify factors determining occurrence of adaptive and abnormal changes in ECG and TTE. The retrospective analysis included basic medical data, ECG and TTE results of 262 athletes (123 rowers, 32 canoeists and 107 cyclists), members of the Polish National Team. The athletes were divided into two age groups: young (≤ 18 years; n = 177) and elite (> 18 years; n = 85). ECG and TTE measurements were analysed according to the International Recommendations from 2017 and 2015, respectively. Adaptive ECG changes were found in 165 (63%) athletes. Abnormal ECG changes were identified in 10 (3.8%) athletes. 98% of athletes exceeded TTE norms for the general population and 26% exceeded norms for athletes. The occurrence of both adaptive ECG findings and abnormalities in the TTE (in norms for athletes) was strongly associated with the years of training, hours of training per week and the age of the athlete. Male gender and the years of training were independent predictors of the ECG and TTE findings. Abnormal ECG changes were not related to the time of sport. Among 10 athletes with ECG changes, only 3 had changes in TTE and no relationship was found between abnormal finding in ECG and TTE (p = 0.45). ECG and TTE screening complement each other in identifying endurance athletes requiring treatment or verification. Unlike abnormal ECG changes, adaptive ECG changes and TTE abnormalities are strongly related to the training duration, which reflects physiological adaptation of the heart to physical exertion in high endurance athletes.

Purpose: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness, measured by echocardiography, is associated to the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and severe aortic stenosis (AS). EAT thickness is commonly referred as the diameter of the echo-free space between the right ventricular wall and the visceral layer of the pericardium in parasternal long axis view, using the aortic annulus as an anatomic landmark (EAT-1). We aimed to demonstrate that the direct measurement of the adipose tissue thickness visualized in the space between the ascending aorta and the right ventricle (EAT-2) might be considered an alternative method. Methods: We measured EAT-1 and EAT-2 in 130 pts with severe cardiac disease referred for cardiac surgery: 53 pts with isolated AS, 49 pts with severe CAD, and 28 pts with both severe AS and CAD (AS+CAD); and in 50 control subjects matched for age, sex and BMI. The two measurements were obtained at end-systole in 3 cardiac cycles (figure). Results. Both EAT-1 and EAT-2 measurements had an excellent reproducibility. With respect to controls pts had significantly increased EAT-1 (2,4 + 0,5mm vs 6 + 2mm; p,0,05) and EAT-2 (3 + 1,2mm vs 12 + 3mm; p,0,05). EAT-1 and EAT-2 were not statistically different in controls. EAT-2 was significantly higher than EAT-1 in CAD, AS, and AS+CAD pts (p,0,05). Interestingly, EAT-2, but not EAT-1, was significantly increased in AS+CAD pts with respect to EAT-2 of pts with isolated AS and isolated CAD.Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that EAT-2, as well as EAT-1, is a valuable method to measure EAT thickness. Further, EAT-2 seems to better recognize EAT increase, in pts with AS+CAD. Comprehensively, EAT-2 is greater than EAT-1. The larger space between ascending aorta and right ventricle, allowing EATexpansion, could justify our observation. P988Utility of student-performed pocket-sized ultrasound echocardiography as a selflearning aid to improve physical examination skills in diagnosis of valvular heart disease: a pilot study Purpose: We aim to evaluate the feasibility of using pocket-sized ultrasound (PUS) as a learning-aid to improve medical student physical examination (PE) skills in the diagnosis of valvular heart diseases. Methods: We recruited consecutive patients undergoing routine transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) at our institution. Each patient underwent initial PE (iPE), limited PUS and repeat PE (rPE) by a pair of year 3 medical students blinded to TTE results after 6 hours training in basic echocardiographic views (parasternal long and short axis, apical 4-chamber and subcostal) in B-mode and color Doppler images to detect significant (moderate and severe) mitral, aortic and tricuspid valvular lesions. Diagnostic accuracy of iPE, PUS, rPE and student interpretation of technician performed TTE images (sTTE) was compared with TTE as reference. Kappa statistics was used to assess agreement between tests and students.Results: Six students performed 116 PUS on 58 patients with mean age of 63.7 + 13.7 years and 40% female. TTE detected 38 significant valvul...

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