There is european consensus, that athletes should undergo pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation (Europace 2017). The examination is recommended by the Olympic Committee, the European Society of Cardiology and the Swiss Society of Sports Medicine. The examination consists of personal and family history, physical examination and an ECG. During the active competitive career it should be repeatet every one to two years.
Athletes ECGs have to be interpreted with special criteria (Eur Heart J 2017). The differentian between sport-specific and disease-specific ECG patterns is difficult in selected cases. Normal findings in athletes, borderline findings, and abnormal findings have to be distinguished. Two or more borderline findings, or one abnormal finding should trigger further cardiological work-up. The freuquency of abnormal ECG findings is low in Swiss elite athletes (SMW 2016).
ECG of an athlete with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
African Premier League soccer player with an ethic variant of early repolarization
