Ventricular arrhythmias and risk stratification of cardiac sudden death in athletes.

Ventricular arrhythmias and risk stratification of cardiac sudden death in athletes. Minerva Cardioangiol. 2020 Apr;68(2):110-122 Authors: Crescenzi C, Panattoni G, Stazi A, Martino A, Sgueglia M, De Ruvo E, Calò L Abstract Sudden cardiac death (SCD) of young athletes is an unexpected and tragic event that could occur during sport activities and is frequently related to ventricular arrhythmias. Identifying athletes at risk of SCD remains a major challenge. While specific characteristics of premature ventricular contractions are considered common and benign, other "uncommon" features should require more accurate investigations, in order to determine eligibility for competitive sports. The most common type of idiopathic premature ventricular contractions originates from ventricular outflow tract and is characterized by an ECG pattern with left bundle branch block and inferior QRS axis (infundibular pattern). Another pattern associated with a good prognosis is the "fascicular" morphology, characterized by a typical right bundle branch block, superior QRS axis morphology and QRS duration <130 ms. Conversely, other morphological features (such as left bundle branch block /intermediate or superior axis or right bundle branch block/intermediate or superior axis and wide QRS) correlate to an underlying substrate. In risk stratification setting, cardiac magnetic resonance plays a key role allowing an accurate identification of myocardial ...
Source: Minerva Cardioangiologica - Category: Cardiology Tags: Minerva Cardioangiol Source Type: research