Published 3 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a309
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a309
Editorials
Sudden cardiac death in young athletes
Evidence supports a systematic screening programme before participation
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Which screening strategy should be used to identify young athletes at risk for sudden cardiac death is a highly controversial matter. For many years the medical community has disputed the cost effectiveness, feasibility, and accuracy of including 12 lead electrocardiography in the cardiovascular screening of athletes. Discordant recommendations from the American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology have fuelled a global debate about the usefulness of such screening in athletes.1 2 In the linked study, Sofi and colleagues analyse data from 30 065 Italian athletes who underwent a complete pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation including resting and exercise electrocardiography.3
Sudden cardiac death in young athletes (<35 years) is caused by a diverse set of structural diseases of the heart (such as cardiomyopathies) and electrical defects (such as ion channelopathies). In the United States alone, one young competitive athlete dies every three days from an unrecognised cardiovascular disorder.4 American and European authorities . . . [Full text of this article]
Jonathan A Drezner, associate professor1,
Karim Khan, associate professor2
1 Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, WA 98195, USA,
2 Centre for Hip Health and Mobility and Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
jdrezner@fammed.washington.edu

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