Criteria for interpretation of the athlete's ECG: a critical appraisal

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is cheap and widely available but its use as a screening tool for early identification of athletes with a cardiac disease at risk of sudden cardiac death is controversial because of its presumed low specificity. In the last decade, several efforts have been made to improve the distinction between physiological and pathological ECG findings in the athlete, leading to a continued evolution of the interpretation criteria. The most recent 2017 International recommendations grouped ECG changes into three categories: normal, borderline and abnormal. Borderline findings warrant further investigations only when two or more are present while abnormal changes should always be considered as the sign of a possible underlying disease. This review encompasses the evolution of the athlete's ECG interpretation criteria and highlights areas of uncertainty that will need to be addressed by further studies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.