Benefits and limitations of electrocardiographic and echocardiographic screening in top level endurance athletes.

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.

Prevalence and determinants of the early repolarisation pattern in a group of young high endurance rowers.

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.