Abstract

QRS voltage criteria are commonly employed in the electrocardiographic (ECG) and vectorcardiographic (VCG) diagnosis of right and left ventricular enlargement (dilatation and/or hypertrophy) of the heart. However, up to now, among various authors noticeable disagreement exists about the applicability of these ECG and VCG criteria to the routine clinical evaluation especially inthe case of young athletes. In order to investigate the validity of the most commonly employed ECG and VCG QRS voltage criteria in the diagnosis of right and left ventricular enlargement, we analysed ECGs and VCGs (FRANK) of 60 topranking young athletes participating in different sports activities of endurance type. Diameters and walls thicknesses of right and left ventricles were assessed by echocardiography (ECHO). Our results clearly show that QRS voltagecriteria are quite ineffective in the assessment of ventricular enlargement because of the constant inverse relation between diagnostic sensitivity and specificty. At present time, we think that an ECG and/or VCG pattern of high QRS amplitude in young athletes have to be generically termed high QRS voltage, instead of ventricular hypertrophy and/or dilatation. In such cases ECHO can offer a useful aidin the assessment of the real anatomical situation. Verf.-Referat