ArticleJACC. Advances2025
Electrocardiographic Findings Among Major League Soccer Athletes: Normative Data From a Diverse Population.
Article in JACC. Advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Outcomes of cardiac screening in elite para-football players in the United Kingdom.British journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Electrocardiographic Profiles by sex in a cohort of healthy Vietnamese university students.American heart journal plus : cardiology research and practice · 2025Article
- Beyond Racial Categorization in Sports Cardiology: A Systematic Review of Cardiac Adaptations in Athletes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
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10 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundMajor League Soccer (MLS) is composed of an ethnically diverse athlete population for which electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis has not been previously reported.
objectivesThis paper evaluated MLS player ECGs and characterized ECGs as having normal, borderline, and/or abnormal ECG findings based on the international criteria. Echocardiographic data were analyzed when history, physical, or ECG findings were abnormal.
methodsThis was a cross-sectional study of MLS players from 2017 to 2020.
resultsA total of 706 athletes were included in this study. Athletes were predominantly Caucasian 346 (49%), followed by Black, 85 (26%), and Hispanic, 175 (25%). The mean (SD) age was 24.5 (4.3) years with an age range of 15 to 37 years. The most common abnormal ECG finding was T wave inversion (TWI) (total percent of TWI). Black athletes had a greater proportion of ECGs with any isolated TWI, with 11.9%, compared to Caucasian (5.2%, P = 0.005) and Hispanic (5.7%, P = 0.040) athletes. Subgroup analysis of those with abnormal TWI revealed mostly structurally normal hearts. The most common borderline finding was left axis deviation, with Black athletes having a statistically greater proportion of left axis deviation when compared to Caucasian athletes (3.8% vs 1.2%, P = 0.043). Training-related ECG changes are highly prevalent among professional male soccer players regardless of race.
conclusionsThe most common ECG abnormality and borderline finding per international criteria are TWI and left atrial enlargement, respectively. Both were more prevalent in Black athletes. Echocardiography did not reveal underlying cardiovascular disease during follow-up even in the presence of abnormal ECG findings.
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