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Background: Early repolarization (ER) has been linked to the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the general population, although controversy remains regarding risks across various subgroups., Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether age and sex influence the prognostic significance of ER., Methods: We evaluated the 12-lead electrocardiograms of 6631 Finnish general population subjects age ≥30 years (mean age 50.1 ± 13.9 years; 44.5% men) for the presence of ER (J-point elevation ≥0.1 mV in ≥2 inferior/lateral leads) and followed them for 24.4 ± 10.3 years. We analyzed the association between ER and the risk of SCD, cardiac death, and all-cause mortality in subgroups according to age (<50 or ≥50 years) and sex., Results: ER was present in 367 of the 3305 subjects age <50 years and in 426 of 3326 subjects ≥50 years. ER was not associated with any of the endpoints in the entire study population. After adjusting for clinical factors, ER was associated with SCD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16-3.07) in subjects <50 but not in older subjects (interaction between ER and age group, P = .048). In the younger subgroup, women with ER had a high risk of SCD (HR 4.11; 95% CI 1.41-12.03), whereas among men ER was not associated with SCD. Finally, ER was not associated with cardiac mortality or all-cause mortality in either age group., Conclusion: ER is associated with SCD in subjects younger than 50 years, particularly in women, but not in subjects 50 years and older., (Copyright © 2019 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: We investigated whether combining several ECG abnormalities would identify general population subjects with a high sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk., Methods: In a sample of 6830 participants (mean age 51.2±13.9 years; 45.5% male) in the Mini-Finland Health Survey, a general population cohort representative of the Finnish adults aged ≥30 years conducted in 1978-1980, we examined their ECGs, following subjects for 24.3±10.4 years. We analysed the association between individual ECG abnormalities and 10-year SCD risk and developed a risk score using five ECG abnormalities independently associated with SCD risk: heart rate >80 beats per minute, PR duration >220 ms, QRS duration >110 ms, left ventricular hypertrophy and T-wave inversion. We validated the score using an external general population cohort of 10 617 subjects (mean age 44.0±8.5 years; 52.7% male)., Results: No ECG abnormalities were present in 4563 subjects (66.8%), while 96 subjects (1.4%) had ≥3 ECG abnormalities. After adjusting for clinical factors, the SCD risk increased progressively with each additional ECG abnormality. Subjects with ≥3 ECG abnormalities had an HR of 10.23 (95% CI 5.29 to 19.80) for SCD compared with those without abnormalities. The risk score similarly predicted SCD risk in the validation cohort, in which subjects with ≥3 ECG abnormalities had HR 10.82 (95% CI 3.23 to 36.25) for SCD compared with those without abnormalities., Conclusion: The ECG risk score successfully identified general population subjects with a high SCD risk. Combining ECG risk markers may improve the risk stratification for SCD., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)