Prevalence of abnormal electrocardiograms in a large, unselected population undergoing pre-participation cardiovascular screening

Abstract

In a large, unselected population of young athletes undergoing pre-participation screening, the prevalence of markedly abnormal ECG patterns, suggestive for structural cardiac disease, is low (<5% of the overall population) and should not represent obstacle for implementation of 12-lead ECG in the pre-participation screening program.