Abstract
Introduction: Routine 12-lead electrocardiogram screening for the prevention of sudden cardiac death in young athletes is not recommended due to the enormous cost per life saved. The application of less expensive electrocardiographic devices has not been investigated. Hypothesis: The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the utility of a new 3-lead wireless electrocardiographic device for the pre-participation screening of young competitive athletes. Methods: Twenty-seven college football players were enrolled in this study. During the pre-participation screening sessions, each player underwent evaluation using a conventional 12-lead electrocardiogram and a new 3-lead electrocardiogram coupled to our wireless electrocardiographic device. The new 3-lead electrocardiography is a compact device that yields high quality electrocardiographic signals. We compared several electrocardiographic parameters (QRS duration, QRS amplitude, left ventricular hypertrophy, ST deviation and corrected QT interval) using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The QRS duration, QRS amplitude and corrected QT interval values exhibited significant correlation between the two types of electrocardiograms (correlation coefficient 0.723, 0.537 and 0.734, respectively with P value of 0.01, 0.004 and 0.01, respectively). ST deviation in V1 was weakly correlated with ST deviation in lead Z without statistical significance (correlation coefficient 0.227 with P value of 0.256). Assessment of left ventricular hypertrophy using the Cornell voltage or Sokolow-Lyon criteria and average QRS amplitude also revealed weak correlation without statistical significance (correlation coefficient 0.221 and 0.246, respectively with P value of 0.268 and 0.216, respectively). Conclusions: Our newly developed 3-lead electrocardiogram results correlated well with those of a conventional 12-lead electrocardiogram in terms of QRS duration, QRS amplitude and corrected QT interval. Thus, the 3-lead electrocardiogram might represent a useful screening tool for the prevention of sudden cardiac death in young competitive athletes.
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