A syndrome of early repolarization, common in professional athletes, has recently been considered a possible predictor of acute fatal arrhythmias. It is known that for this category of young people the development of compensatory cardiac is common as well. The purpose of the study was to investigate the features of early ventricular repolarization in professional athletes, depending on the presence of signs of cardiac hypertrophy. Material and methods. The study involved 28 high-level competition athletes who had regular intensive physical activity for at least six months. Syndrome of early repolarization was diagnosed by the electrocardiogram registration, detected in case of elevation of the J-point on 1 mm and more above the isoelectric line in the lower or lateral leads. Results and discussion. The cardiac hypertrophy diagnosis was established by electrocardiography and echocardiography. We did not reveal the statistically significant relationship between high prevalence of early repolarization syndrome and cardiac hypertrophy in professional athletes. However, the combination of these two syndromes in the examined athletes was accompanied by a statistically significant shortening of the corrected QT interval. The latter may be one of the risk factors for acute fatal arrhythmias in case of certain anamnestic data presence. Conclusion. This necessitates a deeper examination of such patients and their monitoring. Further studies are needed to determine the prognostic value of early repolarization in athletes with cardiac hypertrophy.
Keywords: early repolarization syndrome, short QT syndrome, cardiac hypertrophy, professional athletes
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