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BeechNut
16th Jan 2012, 15:34
Hi all, PPL here, class 3 medical (Canada). Anybody have experience with early repolarization discovered on ECG? From what I can gather it is a "normal variation" but some researchers think it can indicate increased risk. It's most common on young athletic males. Well I'm 53 yrs young, but am fairly athletic, regularly ride centuries (100 miles/160 km in a day) on my road bike at average 25 km/h (and faster on shorter rides), do 10 km hikes in the mountains in winter, etc.

Just wondering if this will be an obstacle to renewing my medical... thanks

Edit: self-answering question, my AME renewed my medical last night. Took one look at the ECG and said "it won't be a problem".

Fostex
17th Jan 2012, 19:42
I have this as well although I am a 31 year old and outside of flying am a competitive road cyclist. My AME said it was normal for my demographic and required no further investigation. In short it goes to a cardiologist who will sign you off unless you have a questionable cardiac history or other risk factors.

This might be useful -> 12-lead ECG in the athlete: physiological versus pathological abnormalities -- Corrado et al. 43 (9): 669 -- British Journal of Sports Medicine (http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/43/9/669.full)

"Early repolarisation has traditionally been regarded as an idiopathic and benign ECG phenomenon, with an estimated prevalence in healthy young people ranging between 1% and 2%, and a clear male preponderance. The early repolarisation ECG pattern is the rule rather than the exception among highly trained athletes, in whom it is observed in 50–80% of resting ECGs"