In pre-participation screening of athletes, an electrocardiogram (ECG) enables detection of unapparent cardiac disorders and is discussed to reduce the incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in this population [1], [2]. It may particularly help to identify athletes with channelopathies such as the long QT syndrome (LQTS). A simple bedside test has recently been introduced to differentiate healthy, non-athlete individuals from patients with LQTS in recording lying and standing ECG [3], now referred to as the "Viskin test". In healthy subjects the QT interval shortened in response to the brief tachycardia provoked by standing, whereas in LQTS patients a paradoxical prolongation was observed. However, the interpretation of athlete's ECG has always been a more challenging task due to a high prevalence of sports-related alterations mimicking cardiac disorders [4]. Moreover, a relatively high prevalence of prolonged QT intervals has been reported in athletes [5]. We therefore performed lying and standing ECG in a cohort of top level athletes to verify the effect of the brief tachycardia induced by standing on the duration of the QT interval.
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