Abstract
Sudden death in athletes occurs because of the existence of hidden cardiovascular disorders which, during effort, may jeopardize the electrical stability of the heart, triggering ventricular tachycardia and/or fibrillation. Apart from rare conditions of ion channel diseases in the setting of a structurally normal heart, in which the disorder may be easily diagnosed on basal or stress test ECG, cardiac abnormalities at risk of causing sudden death may affect the aorta (Marfan syndrome), the coronary arteries (congenital coronary artery anomalies, premature coronary atherosclerosis), the myocardium (hypertrophic and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy), the valves (bicuspid aortic valve, mitral valve prolapse) and the conduction system (pre-excitation syndromes). These structural heart disorders may be detected by ECG and/or echo. The employment of these tools at pre-participation screening can help to identify concealed anomalies, which may play a major role in early diagnosis, risk stratification, and prevention of sudden death.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Basso C, Carturan E, Pilichou K, Rizzo S, Corrado D, Thiene G (2010) Sudden cardiac death with normal heart molecular autopsy. Cardiovasc Pathol 19:321–325
Corrado D, McKenna WJ (2007) Appropriate interpretation of the athlete’s electrocardiogram saves lives as well as money. Eur Heart J 28:1920–1922
Corrado D, Thiene G, Nava A, Rossi L, Pennelli N (1990) Sudden death in young competitive athletes: clinico-pathologic correlations in 22 cases. Am J Med 89:588–596
Corrado D, Basso C, Schiavon M, Thiene G (1998) Screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in young athletes. N Engl J Med 339:364–369
Corrado D, Basso C, Rizzoli G, Schiavon M, Thiene G (2003) Does sports activity enhance the risk of sudden death in adolescents and young adults? J Am Coll Cardiol 42:1959–1963
Corrado D, Basso C, Thiene G (2005a) Assay: sudden death in young athletes. Lancet 366(Suppl 1):S47–S48
Corrado D, Pelliccia A, Bjørnstad HH, Vanhees L, Biffi A, Borjesson M, Panhuyzen-Goedkoop N, Deligiannis A, Solberg E, Dugmore D, Mellwig KP, Assanelli D, Delise P, van-Buuren F, Anastasakis A, Heidbuchel H, Hoffmann E, Fagard R, Priori SG, Basso C, Arbustini E, Blomstrom-Lundqvist C, McKenna WJ, Thiene G (2005b) Cardiovascular pre-participation screening of young competitive athletes for prevention of sudden death: proposal for a common European protocol. Eur Heart J 26:516–524
Corrado D, Basso C, Pavei A, Michieli P, Schiavon M, Thiene G (2006) Trends in sudden cardiovascular death in young competitive athletes after implementation of a preparticipation screening program. JAMA 296:1593–1601
Corrado D, Basso C, Schiavon M, Pelliccia A, Thiene G (2008) Pre-participation screening of young competitive atlete for prevention of sudden cardiac death. J Am Coll Cardiol 52:1981–1989
Corrado D, Pelliccia A, Heidbuchel H, Sharma S, Link M, Basso C, Biffi A, Buja G, Delise P, Gussac I, Anastasakis A, Borjesson M, Bjørnstad HH, Carrè F, Deligiannis A, Dugmore D, Fagard R, Hoogsteen J, Mellwig KP, Panhuyzen-Goedkoop N, Solberg E, Vanhees L, Drezner J, Estes NA 3rd, Iliceto S, Maron BJ, Peidro R, Schwartz PJ, Stein R, Thiene G, Zeppilli P, McKenna WJ (2010) Recommendations for interpretation of 12-lead electrocardiogram in the athlete. Eur Heart J 31:243–259
Decree of the Italian Ministry of Health, February 18, 1982. [Rules concerning the medical protection of athletic activity]. Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, March 5 1982, p 63
Maron BJ, Thompson PD, Ackerman MJ, Balady G, Berger S, Cohen D, Dimeff R, Douglas PS, Glover DW, Hutter AM Jr, Krauss MD, Maron MS, Mitten MJ, Roberts WO, Puffer JC (2007) Recommendations and considerations related to preparticipation screening for cardiovascular abnormalities in competitive athletes: 2007 update. Circulation 115:1643–1655
Pelliccia A, Di Paolo FM, Quattrini FM, Basso C, Culasso F, Popoli G, De Luca R, Spataro A, Biffi A, Thiene G, Maron BJ (2008) Outcomes in athletes with marked ECG repolarization abnormalities. N Engl J Med 358:152–161
Thiene G, Carturan E, Corrado D, Basso C (2010) Prevention of sudden cardiac death in the young and in athletes: dream or reality? Cardiovasc Pathol 19:207–217
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thiene, G., Corrado, D., Rigato, I. et al. Why and how to support screening strategies to prevent sudden death in athletes. Cell Tissue Res 348, 315–318 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-012-1398-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-012-1398-4