Prevention of sudden cardiac death in young athletes

Abstract

Sudden cardiac deaths in young athletes (less than 35 years old) are rare though highly publicized tragedies, occurring mainly in athletes with underlying cardiovascular diseases. Since these diseases often have a clinically silent course, they should be actively searched for by preparticipation screening. Preparticipation screening of athletes varies among different countries. However, a common European protocol has been proposed, which comprises a history, clinical examination, and 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). The inclusion of ECG is based mainly on Italian results, which showed increased sensitivity of such screening for a majority of cardiovascular diseases responsible for sudden cardiac death (cardiomyopathies, channelopaties, cardiac conduction tissue diseases). Timely diagnosis of such cardiovascular diseases, abstinence from exercise of moderate to high intensity, pharmacotherapy and other treatment modalities help to prevent sudden cardiac deaths and progression of disease in the affected athletes.