Advantages of electrocardiographic monitoring in top level athletes

We used continuous electrocardiographic monitoring according to Holter's method for a tentative evaluation of the prognostic value of the main electrocardiographic peculiarities of the "athlete's heart". Five hundred and eighty-seven Holter recordings were performed in 164 top athletes divided into three groups: dynamic, static and mixed. Selection criteria were either clinical or electrical (resting-ECG). The prognostic value of arrhythmia is variable: unworrying junctional rhythm (JR) and auriculo-ventricular blocks (AVB) that disappeared under strain, which in our study interested mostly the dynamic group. No pejorative prognostic criteria were found related to supraventricular premature beats (SVPB). Ventricular premature beats (VPB) of recent occurrence were predominantly found, in our study, in the static athletes; their occurrence was not always accounted for and their prognosis, at least as regards sports, was uncertain. Holters repeated throughout the sports season made it possible to establish a relationship between some peculiarities and the training intensiveness: auriculo-ventricular block and junction rhythm culminated during intensive periods. Unusual sinus tachycardia would be indicative of over-training.