ISSN: 2329-9096
Antonio da Silva Menezes Junior, Jutay Fernando Silva Louzeiro, Viviane Batista de Magalhães Pereira and Edésio Martins School of
Background: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) in athletes during physical activity is rare.
Objectives: To evaluate the warning signs for SCD in young athletes and correlate them with electrocardiographic data.
Methods: This was a case-control, prospective study, and comparing athletes with sedentary individuals. The Sudden Cardiac Death Screening of Risk Factors (SCD-SOS) questionnaire was applied and resting electrocardiography was performed.
Results: In total, 898 participants were included, 589 (65.6%) in the case group (athletes) and 309 (34.4%) in the control group (sedentary). Fainting episodes were significantly less frequent in athletes (odds ratio 0.252, p<0.001). Heart rates were not significantly different. The most common electrocardiographic findings were sinus arrhythmia, right bundle branch conduction disorder, and early repolarization.
Conclusion: Young athletes had a lower frequency of risk indicators for sudden cardiac death. There was a positive correlation between fainting reported by athletes and the duration of the QRS complex.