(ANSA) – ROME, SEPTEMBER 16 – Almost one in 10 young athletes has anomalies in the electrocardiogram tracing performed for the release of competitive sports certification. This emerges from a study by the Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital on 581 children and teenagers with an average age of 15 and 80% male, which found in 53 cases (9%) the presence of anomalies in ventricular repolarization (T-wave inversion). Seventeen children, 3%, were suspended from competitive activity as a precaution due to the cardiac anomalies found by subsequent tests. The research was published in the journal of the European Society of Pediatric Cardiology Cardiology in the Young.
The electrocardiogram (ECG) records the electrical activity of the heart in the form of a graph, through a sequence of waves and straight segments. One of these waves – the T wave – detects in particular the ventricular repolarization, the ‘recharging time’ of the heart. Normally the shape of this wave is positive, with the curve upwards with respect to the horizontal axis of the graph. When it is negative, however, it can generally be an indication of possible anomalies of the cardiac muscle (both in terms of muscle structure and regular blood perfusion).
“The probability that competitive athletes have a hidden cardiomyopathy is low, but not negligible. – comments Ugo Giordano, head of the operational unit of sports medicine at Bambino Gesù – The electrocardiographic screening, preliminary to the eligibility for competitive sports, is therefore confirmed as an excellent opportunity to identify early cardiomyopathies and other pathologies that increase the risk of sudden death in apparently healthy young athletes. Any anomalies in repolarization, signaled by the inversion of the T wave, must always be investigated and examined in depth by contacting specialized centers. In Italy, the evaluation protocols for access to competitive sports are rightly very rigorous. For non-competitive sports, although there is no obligation in this sense, the advice of sports doctors – he concludes – is to always perform an electrocardiogram at each visit for the issuing of the certificate, in consideration of its value as a screening tool for health”. (ANSA).
2024-09-17 03:12:37