Early repolarization in adolescent athletes: A gender comparison of ECG and echocardiographic characteristics.

Background: The early repolarization pattern (ERp) is an electrocardiographic finding previously associated with arrhythmic risk in adults. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of ERp in a group of adolescent athletes according to gender. Furthermore, potential associations with clinical, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic parameters are explored.

Are Gyms a Feasible Setting for Exercise Training Interventions in Patients with Cardiovascular Risk Factors? An Italian 10-Years Cross-Sectional Survey Comparison.

Background: Exercise training is a known important prevention and treatment modality in patients with cardiovascular (CV) diseases. However, the CV risk factors in gym users have been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to monitor CV risk factors of gym users over 10 years in order to investigate whether gyms are used settings for secondary disease prevention.

Head injury assessment in Italian Rugby Union: a two-seasons prospective analysis.

Background: In Italy, to the best of our knowledge, there is no literature relating to injury and concussion epidemiology in rugby union. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to describe the incidence of sport-related concussion in Italian rugby union and the associated management of Head Injury Assessment (HIA).

Methods: This is an observational prospective study, analyzing the Italian elite rugby championship (Top 12 and Coppa Italia) for two seasons (2018/2019 and 2019/2020).

Effectiveness of Text Messaging as an Incentive to Maintain Physical Activity after Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

Although the efficacy of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is proven, the need to improve patients' adherence has emerged. There are only a few studies that have investigated the effect of sending text messages after a CR period to stimulate subjects' ongoing engagement in regular physical activity (PA). A randomized controlled pilot trial was conducted after CR, sending a daily PA text message reminder to an intervention group (IG), which was compared with a usual care control group (CG) during three months of follow-up.

Can exercise test intensity and modality affect the prevalence of arrhythmic events in young athletes?

Pre-participation screening is performed to identify underlying cardiac conditions that may also lead to sudden cardiac death. Our aim is to compare submaximal Harvard Step Test (HST) with incremental Maximal Exercise Test (MET) on treadmill to induce and detect arrhythmias in younger athletes. A total of 1000 athletes (mean age 14.