The DOI matches its Crossref record; 20 of the 20 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Relation of Race to Electrocardiographic Patterns in Elite American Football Players
Open accessAbstract
Objectives The purpose of this study was to establish an electrocardiographic (ECG) profile in a biracial population of highly-trained American football players.Background Intense physical training can induce cardiac structural and functional changes ("athlete's heart"), including 12-lead ECG alterations. That race might play a role in determining ECG patterns has been suggested, although not studied in a large athletic population comparing black and white athletes.Methods Electrocardiographic analysis of 1,959 elite male athletes attending the National Football League Invitational Camp from 2000 to 2005 was performed. Subjects were classified by race and player position and judged free of structural heart disease.Results Abnormal ECG patterns were present in 480 (25%) athletes and were significantly more common among black players (n = 396; 30%) compared with white players (n = 78; 13%) or other races (n = 6; 15%) (p < 0.0001). Distinctly abnormal ECG patterns, suggestive of cardiac disease, were also more common in blacks (n = 76; 6%) than whites (n = 11; 2%) (p = 0.0005). In multivariable analysis, black race was an independent predictor of abnormal ECGs (risk ratio [RR] 2.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.56 to 2.64, p < 0.0001), including patterns judged distinctly abnormal (RR 2.59, 95% CI 1.18 to 5.67, p = 0.02). Abnormal ECGs were also related to player position: most frequent in wide receivers (n = 91; 35%) and least common in quarterbacks (n = 16; 14%) and place kickers (n = 8; 11%). Echocardiograms, obtained in 203 athletes (10%), did not show structural cardiac abnormalities.Conclusions Electrocardiographic abnormalities were 2-fold more common in black than in white highly-trained male American football players, with race an independent determinant of ECG pattern. These findings have important implications for pre-participation cardiovascular screening of athletes with ECGs.
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“Among highly trained American football players, the black athletes had significantly more abnormal ECG patterns, compared with their white counterparts, the most common being increased precordial voltages and diffuse T-wave inversions.”
From The Year of 2008 in Electrocardiology (2010) · cites this paper as [10]
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Electrocardiographic Findings in Professional Male Athletes
Raman, K. S., & Vyselaar, J. R. (2021) · Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine · doi:10.1097/jsm.0000000000001006 · Cited by 5
“For example, the generalizability of our findings for the football cohort may be limited because cardiac demands are unique to the position played by the athlete.(27) The follow-up testing for patients with abnormal ECG findings is not discussed in our study, thus limiting our ability to comment on false positive rate…”
BackgroundCardiovascular Health, Part 1: Preparticipation Cardiovascular Screening
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“The ethical concerns arise from the fact that up to 30% to 40% of elite athletes have abnormalities on their ECG that may mimic cardiovascular disease and that these abnormalities are more prevalent in African American athletes.(21) The majority of these findings will turn out to be manifestations of the “athlete’s he…”
BackgroundEthnic differences in the cardiac responses to aerobic exercise
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“Ethnic differences in cardiac responses to exercise between European and AfricanAmerican populations include more striking polarization changes and greater magnitudes of left ventricular hypertrophy among African-Americans (Basavarajaiah et al. 2008; Magalski et al. 2008; Rawlins et al. 2010).”
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T-wave Reversion in Pediatric Patients during Exercise Stress Testing
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Syncope and Sudden Cardiac Death in the Pediatric Athlete
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“These findings may be more prevalent in black athletes.(1,19) Cardiac stress testing in athletes may uncover abnormalities if the testing is done at an intensity level that reproduces the symptoms.”
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“However, recent studies examining cardiac adaptation in African/African-Caribbean male athletes have demonstrated that black athletes present with more striking repolarization changes than white athletes of similar age and size participating in identical sports.(7,8) Indeed, up to 25% of black athletes exhibit repolar…”
BackgroundDetection of Cardiac Abnormalities in Elite Black and White Athletes
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“Black men have been known since the 1950s(16,17) to present more frequently with marked precordial T-wave inversions and early repolarization in V3 through V6, suggestive of a myocardial ischemia.(18,19) Indeed Wilt Chamberlain, the legendary American basketball player and the only one to score 100 points in a single…”
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BackgroundEtude de la repolarisation chez les sportifs de race noire
Rejeb, O. B., Ghali, H., Massoudi, Y., Gharbi, A., Bouhlel, I., Ernez, S., Mahdhaoui, A., & Jeridi, G. (2019) · Pan African Medical Journal · doi:10.11604/pamj.2019.33.114.14241 · Cited by 3
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Bryde, R. E., Soutar, M. F., Bavishi, A. A., Kim, J. H., Chung, E. H., Gallucci, J. A., Street, J. M., Silvers, H. J., Putukian, M., & Martinez, M. W. (2025) · JACC Advances · doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.101886 · Cited by 3
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InfluentialNormal computerized Q wave measurements in healthy young athletes
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For the Evaluation of Pacific Island Athletes, an ECG and Echocardiography Are Highly Recommended
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Metadata
- Authors
- Magalski, A., Maron, B. J., Main, M. L., McCoy, M., Florez, A., Reid, K. J., Epps, H. W., Bates, J., & Browne, J. E.
- Affiliations
- Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (US)
- Saint Louis University (US)
- University of Missouri–Kansas City (US)
- Corresponding author
- Magalski, Anthony
- Venue
- Journal of the American College of Cardiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2008-06
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 23
- Pages
- 2250-2255
- ISSN
- 0735-1097 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2018184929
- Cited by
- 161
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 28
- FWCI
- 11.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of the American College of Cardiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Effects of Exercise
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Physical Performance
- Keywords
- electrocardiographic abnormalities, race, athlete's heart, American football players, Black athletes, pre-participation cardiovascular screening, playing position, echocardiography
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Black or African American, Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena, Electrocardiography, Football, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, United States, Odds Ratio, White People
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