Lack of correlation between ventricular late potentials and left ventricular mass in top-level male athletes.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to establish: 1) the prevalence of abnormal signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG) in a large population of top-level athletes and 2) the relationship between SAECG parameters and left ventricular mass. One-hundred and fifty-three elite male athletes without apparent heart disease, symptoms, or arrhythmias were studied. Methods: Fifty-six athletes (37%) had increased left ventricular mass (>134 g.m 2 ). All athletes underwent time-domain SAECG on 3(X)-4(X) heart beats recorded at rest from three bipolar orthogonal tests with a filter setting of 40-250 Hz, Criteria for abnormality were 1) filtered QRS duration > 114 ms, 2) duration of low-amplitude signals > 38 ms. or 3) root mean square voltage of the last 40 ms of the filtered QRS < 20 μV. Results: The prevalence of abnormal SAECG was 7.2% (abnormality of one parameter). 6.5% (abnormality of two parameters), and 5.8% (abnormality of three parameters). The prevalence of abnormal SAECG was similar in athletes with or without increased left ventricular mass. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study showed: 1) the low rate of positive results of SAECG parameters in top-level male athletes, similar to that found in healthy sedentary subjects; and 2) the lack of correlation between left ventricular mass and overall SAECG parameters.