A new study conducted in the UK has found that 3 out of 100 athletes developed electrocardiogram (ECG) changes that never existed before the Covid infection, suggesting changes in the heart without experiencing symptoms.

“Prevalence of postinfectious de-novo ECG change was 3% in elite athletes, and most positive screens yielded inflammatory diagnoses but not clinical issues,” said the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “The pandemic may be waning, but the lessons from it are still accruing,” it said. Investigators from the U.K. examined electrocardiographic abnormalities in 511 elite soccer players who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2. They recruited players from 36 clubs in UK, Brazil, and the Netherlands who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Their mean age was 21 years and 88% were male. The investigators identified de-novo ECG changes in 17 (3%) of the athletes. “Abnormalities included low-amplitude T waves, flat T waves, or inverted T waves,” it said. Researchers found that of those with de-novo changes, 88% had heart inflammation on MRI