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Increased p wave dispersion in elite athletes
Raimundo Carmona Puerta1, Ebrey Leon Aliz, Magda A Rabassa Lopez-Calleja
1Department of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysioloy and Pacing, Cardiocenter "Ernesto Che Guevara", Santa Clara, CUBA.
Background:
Few studies have been performed on P wave indices in athletes. The aim of this study was to determine the behaviour of maximum P wave duration (Pmax), minimum P wave duration (Pmin) and P wave dispersion (PWD) in young high performance athletes, as well as the relationship of PWD with training history, heart rate (HR) and echocardiographic parameters.
Methods:
We performed a cross-sectional observational study in 38 athletes of high performance in sports: water polo, distance running and weight lifting compared with 34 sedentary controls.
Results:
The average age in both groups was 20.6 years. Note that PWD was increased in athletes (57 ± 14 ms vs. 40 ± 12 ms, p <0.001) while Pmin was significantly lower (57 ± 13 ms vs. 72 ± 13 ms, p <0.001), and there was no difference when comparing Pmax (114 ± 9 ms vs. 117 ± 14 ms, p> 0.05). The correlation between the duration of training (r = 0.511) and resting HR (r = 0.461) with PWD was significant (p <0.01).
Conclusions:
PWD is increased in young athletes of high performance and was positively correlated with duration of training and baseline HR. The increase in PWD was secondary to a significant decrease in Pmin.
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