Burden of premature atrial beats in middle-aged endurance athletes with and without lone atrial fibrillation versus sedentary controls

Background The burden of premature atrial beats (PABs) at 24-h electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring correlates with the risk of atrial fibrillation. It is unknown whether prolonged and intense exercise increases the burden of PABs, thus contributing to the higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation observed in middle-aged athletes. Methods We compared the burden of PABs at 24-h ECG monitoring off therapy in 134 healthy middle-aged (30–60-year-old) competitive athletes who had practised 9 (7-11) h of endurance sports for 8 (4-15) consecutive years, 134 age- and gender-matched healthy sedentary individuals, and 66 middle-aged patients (20 athletes and 46 non-athletes) with ‘lone’ paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Results More than 50 PABs/24 h or ≥1 run of ≥3 PABs were recorded in 23/134 (17%) healthy athletes and in 29/134 (22%) sedentary controls (p = 0.61). Healthy athletes with frequent or repetitive PABs were older (median 50 years vs. 43 years, p