Cardiac arrhythmias in a healthy elderly population: detection by 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiography

Twenty-four hour ambulatory electrocardiographic examination was preformed in 98 healthy active subjects, ages 60 to 85 years, who were participants in a longitudinal study on aging. Normal health was confirmed by noninvasive testing, including maximal treadmill exercise (98/98) and thallium scintigraphy (38/98). Our studies indicated that a healthy population of elderly subjects shows a substantial prevalence of supraventricular ectopic beats and ventricular ectopic beats, both isolated and complex. High degree AV block, profound sinus bradycardia, abnormal sinus pauses and sinus arrest are rare in normal elderly subjects.