Athletic Heart vs Pathology Differentiation Score (Echo + ECG)

Athletic Heart vs Pathology Differentiation Score (Echo + ECG): Explanation and Clinical Context This tool is intended to assist clinicians in distinguishing physiological cardiac adaptation in athletes (“athlete’s heart”) from potentially pathological conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, or arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. The score integrates key features from resting ECG (e.g., T-wave inversion, pathological Q waves, bundle branch block), echocardiographic structural indices (left ventricular wall thickness, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter) and functional strain imaging (global longitudinal strain). Lower scores suggest benign adaptation of the athlete’s heart; intermediate scores represent a “grey zone” requiring further comprehensive evaluation (e.g., cardiac MRI, ambulatory ECG, family history); higher scores indicate features more consistent with underlying pathology and should prompt referral to a sports cardiology or imaging specialist.