Use of functional electrocardiographic tests for detecting and evaluating disorders of cardiac rhythm in young people

: Ten-minute-long resting electrocardiograms and functional tests (respiratory arrest, hyperventilation, orthostatic and exercise tests) under continuous cardiac rhythm monitoring were conducted in 239 young subjects between 10 and 35 years of age (153 skilled athletes, 62 apparently normal individuals and 24 young unskilled athletes). Arrthythmias were detected in 124 (51.9%) of those. Complex arrthythmias were particularly common in skilled athletes, as compared to normal subjects and young unskilled athletes (58.2, 45.2 and 29.2%, respectively). Cardiovascular abnormalities were found in 30.7% of skilled athletes and 9.7% of normal subjects. Electrocardiographic functional tests allow timely identification of athletes with cardiovascular abnormalities and the choice of correct therapeutic strategy in terms of stress exposure.