Prevalence of cardiomyopathy in Italian asymptomatic children with electrocardiographic T-wave inversion at preparticipation screening.

BACKGROUND T-wave inversion on a 12-lead ECG is usually dismissed in young people as normal persistence of the juvenile pattern of repolarization. However, T-wave inversion is a common ECG abnormality of cardiomyopathies such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, which are leading causes of sudden cardiac death in athletes. We prospectively assessed the prevalence, age relation, and underlying cardiomyopathy of T-wave inversion in children undergoing preparticipation screening. METHODS AND RESULTS The study population included 2765 consecutive Italian children (1914 male participants; mean age, 13.9±2.2 years; range 8-18 years) undergoing preparticipation screening including an ECG. Of 229 children (8%) who underwent further evaluation because of positive findings at initial preparticipation screening, 33 (1.2%) were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. T-wave inversion was recorded in 158 children (5.7%) and was localized in the right precordial leads in 131 (4.7%). The prevalence of right precordial T-wave inversion decreased significantly with increasing age (8.4% in children <14 years of age versus 1.7% in those ≥14 years; P<0.001), pubertal development (9.5% of children with incomplete versus 1.6% with complete development; P<0.001), and body mass index below the 10th percentile (P<0.001). Incomplete pubertal development was the only independent predictor for right precordial T-wave inversion (odds ratio, 3.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-6.8; P<0.001). Of 158 children with T-wave inversion, 4 (2.5%) had a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, including arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (n=3) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (n=1). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of T-wave inversion decreases significantly after puberty. Echocardiographic investigation of children with postpubertal persistence of T-wave inversion at preparticipation screening is warranted because it may lead to presymptomatic diagnosis of a cardiomyopathy that could lead to sudden cardiac death during sports.