Managing athletes with palpitations of unknown origin with an external loop recorder: a cohort study

An overview of the electrocardiographic monitoring devices in sports cardiology: Between present and future

“…The battery charge of external loop recorders can reach 1 month. In athletes with sporadic symptoms an external loop recorder can be utilized as a second‐line diagnostic investigation for palpitations, because it offers a longer ECG recording, indeed about a 2‐week monitoring is usually sufficient to reach a diagnosis 11 . The diagnostic efficacy of these devices in the clinical management of athletes symptomatic for palpitations of uncertain origin, occurring at least once a month, has been shown to be 82% with a monitoring duration of only 15 days 11 and a major arrhythmic event was present in up to 10% of cases.…”

“…In athletes with sporadic symptoms an external loop recorder can be utilized as a second‐line diagnostic investigation for palpitations, because it offers a longer ECG recording, indeed about a 2‐week monitoring is usually sufficient to reach a diagnosis 11 . The diagnostic efficacy of these devices in the clinical management of athletes symptomatic for palpitations of uncertain origin, occurring at least once a month, has been shown to be 82% with a monitoring duration of only 15 days 11 and a major arrhythmic event was present in up to 10% of cases. This data is noteworthy if we consider that high‐intensity physical exercise can generate artifacts that compromise the quality of the ECG recording; on the other hand, such encouraging data may also be linked to the inclusion in the study of athletes with relatively frequent symptoms 11 .…”

“…The diagnostic efficacy of these devices in the clinical management of athletes symptomatic for palpitations of uncertain origin, occurring at least once a month, has been shown to be 82% with a monitoring duration of only 15 days 11 and a major arrhythmic event was present in up to 10% of cases. This data is noteworthy if we consider that high‐intensity physical exercise can generate artifacts that compromise the quality of the ECG recording; on the other hand, such encouraging data may also be linked to the inclusion in the study of athletes with relatively frequent symptoms 11 . However, sensitivity in identifying arrhythmic causes of palpitations could further increase with longer monitoring (e.g., 1 month).…”

“…During pharmacological management and follow‐up even a 3‐lead ECG monitoring can be effective, especially if common or monomorphic PVBs are present. In the occurrence of frequent arrhythmic episodes, short‐term ECG monitoring allows to record the beginning and ending of the arrhythmias, which is particularly useful in the diagnosis and management of supraventricular arrhythmias 11 . The most common arrhythmia in master athletes is paroxysmal AF and the conditions under that happens, if under high heart rate conditions (i.e., exercise) or under low heart rate conditions (i.e., rest or sleep) holds implication for the choice of the most appropriate medical treatment 6 .…”

What's new in sports cardiology? Hot topics from “Sport and Heart,” First International Congress in Sports Cardiology

“…8 The screening for return-to-play has also gained importance in the last period, and its cost for the national health systems was addressed during the conference, as well. [9][10][11] An entire session was dedicated to discussing the European Union Recovery and Resilience Plan: a wide-ranging response aimed at mitigating the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and making European economies and societies better geared to future challenges. During this session, a cross-country analysis highlighted a range of interrelated areas such as "Investing in digital health literacy" to assess Health Resilience.…”