LEADER

Screening

Preparticipation screening for the detection of cardiovascular abnormalities that may cause sudden death in competitive athletes

F Pigozzi¹, A Spataro¹, F Fagnani¹, N Maffulli²

¹ Sports Medicine Unit, University Institute of Movement Sciences (IUSM), Plazza Lauro de Bosis, 6-00194 Rome, Italy
² Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Keele University School of Medicine, North Staffordshire Hospital, Thornburrow Drive, Hartshill, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire ST4 7QB, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor Maffulli;
osa14@keele.ac.uk

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Preparticipation screening may prevent sudden cardiac deaths in sporting events

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Keywords: screening; sudden cardiac death; cardiac disease; heart

Abbreviations: PPS, preparticipation screening; SCD, sudden cardiac death; HCM, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; ECG, electrocardiogram; ARVC, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The American Board of Medical Specialties lists sports medicine as a broad area of health care that includes:

1. exercise as an essential component of health care throughout life;
   
2. medical management and supervision of recreational and competitive athletes and others who exercise on a regular basis;
   
3. exercise for prevention and treatment of disease and injury.
   

It combines disciplines from applied physiology to those encompassing clinical, therapeutic, and rehabilitative topics. The preventive aspects of sports medicine are coming of age. Sport is a vehicle for wellbeing and prevention and treatment of diseases, although it can sometimes also represent a risk to health in cases of unacknowledged or asymptomatic pathologies, the most dramatic resulting in sudden cardiac death (SCD) which occasionally strikes apparently healthy athletes.^1,2 SCD is a most tragic event, stirring public opinion and commanding a high profile. It is rare, and identifying athletes at risk is a daunting problem. By . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Vetter, V. L., Elia, J., Erickson, C., Berger, S., Blum, N., Uzark, K., Webb, C. L. (2008). Cardiovascular Monitoring of Children and Adolescents With Heart Disease Receiving Medications for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young Congenital Cardiac Defects Committee and the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing. Circulation 117: 2407-2423 [Full Text]  
• Pigozzi, F, Spataro, A, Alabiso, A, Parisi, A, Rizzo, M, Fagnani, F, Di Salvo, V, Massazza, G, Maffulli, N (2005). Role of exercise stress test in master athletes. Br. J. Sports. Med. 39: 527-531 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Williams, R. G., Chen, A. Y. (2003). Identifying athletes at risk for sudden death. J Am Coll Cardiol 42: 1964-1966 [Full Text]  

eLetters:

Read all eLetters

Cardiovascular screening of athletes: a unique opportunity for an epidemiological experiment

Roy J. Shephard

BJSM Online, 12 Feb 2003 [Full text]

Cardiovascular preparticipation screening

Fabio Pigozzi, et al.

BJSM Online, 27 Feb 2003 [Full text]