Letter by Bastiaenen and Behr Regarding Article, “Early Repolarization: Electrocardiographic Phenotypes Associated With Favorable Long-Term Outcome”

Abstract

To the Editor: Early repolarization (ER) was historically considered a benign ECG variant, commonly seen in the anterolateral leads of young male athletes of black ethnicity. It was defined by Wasserburger and Alt1 in 1961 as elevated take-off of the ST segment at the J junction with downward concavity of the ST segment and symmetrical T waves. In recent years it has emerged as a marker for increased risk of sudden cardiac death, particularly in the inferior ECG leads.2,3 Although ER is a common ECG finding, ER syndrome (ER with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation) is rare.2 Even in middle-aged individuals with inferior ER of ≥0.2 mV, the 3-fold …