More extensive screening way s shou...

More extensive screening way s should be used to find out cardiovascular disease in young athletes, according to a Nov 11 2002 recently made knowns release from the American Heart Association (AHA). An Italian investigation presented at the AHA's Scientific Sessions 2001 conversation found that young, competitive athletes are more than twice as likely to experience unexpected death as young nonathletes.

Researchers studied the incidence of death among athletes and nonathletes ages 12 to 35 in the Veneto region of Italy between 1979 and 1999 In total, 300 quickly prepared deaths occurred in this cluster during the study period. Among athletes, the death rate was 23 by means of 100,000 compared to 0.9 by 100,000 for nonathletes, making the estimated risk for abrupt death 2.5 times higher in athletes.

Anomalous coronary artery origin (ie, a congenital heart abnormality in the coronary artery) was identified as the mostly likely cause for sudden death in young athletes, with a risk 784 times higher in athletes than nonathletes. The relative risk of unexpected death due to arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ie, a heart muscle disease that predisposes family to deadly, irregular heart rhythms) was 55 times higher in athletes than nonathletes.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ie, an excessive thickening of the heart muscle), a major cause of abrupt death in young US athletes, was not prevalent among the Italian populations studied. Researchers speculate that this could be to be ascribed to mandatory sports screenings, which include personal and family history as well as a 12-lead electrocardiogram, for all Italian athletes.

American Heart Association Meeting Report: Young Athletes May Be More inclined to Sudden Death than Nonathletes; Enhanced Screening Urg (new release, Anaheim, Calif: American Heart Association, Nov 11 2001) http://www .scientificsessions.org/news/pressreleases/release2.jsp (accessed 19 Feb 2002)

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