Electrocardiographic Patterns of Nigerian Professional Footballers

Correspondence to: Dr H.I. Okolie Department of Medicine Federal Medical Centre, Gombe. E-mail [email protected] INTRODUCTION Different physical activities produce different cardiovascular responses and consequences. Sedentary and unfit normotensive individuals have increased risk of developing High Blood Pressure (HBP) and Coronary Artery Disease, when compared with their more active and fit 1 peers . Dynamic isotonic exercise lowers Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and Diastolic 2 Blood Pressure (DBP) . This beneficial effect is used in the management, Control and 3 prevention of HBP . Whilst moderate dynamic exercise is beneficial and recommended for cardiovascular health, sudden death had been associated with sports. Some cardiovascular abnormalities had been associated with long 4 duration of active exercise . Thus, with the increasing population of professional sport, there is the need to further evaluate the cardiovascular effects with the view of providing healthy lifestyle for them. This study was carried out to determine the Electrocardiographic patterns among professional footballers, involved in the sport for more than 4 years duration.