ECG findings in active patients - Differentiating the benign from the serious

ECGs and cardiac rhythms of normal athletes can vary widely. The heightened vagal tone from athletic conditioning can result in variant ECG findings t hat may mimic serious disorders. ECG patterns of long-QT syndrome, arrhythm ogenic right ventricular dysplasia, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, and hyp ertrophic cardiomyopathy signal the need for further evaluation, therapy, a nd possible participation restriction. Radiofrequency ablation may be appro priate when symptomatic supraventricular arrhythmias or Wolff-Parkinson-Whi te syndrome is present. Further research is needed to effectively distingui sh normal ECG changes in the athlete from changes that underlie cardiac dis ease. Improvements in identifying athletes at risk of serious or life-threa tening arrhythmias are also needed.