Preparticipation Screening of Competitive Athletes

Usefulness of echocardiography in preparticipation screening of competitive athletes.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Despite the established diagnostic value of the electrocardiogram in preparticipation screening of athletes, some cardiac structural changes can be missed, particularly in early disease stages. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of cardiac structural changes via the systematic use of echocardiography in preparticipation screening of competitive athl...

Preparticipation screening for cardiovascular abnormalities in young competitive athletes.

The cardiovascular benefits of regular physical exercise are well established.However, a small proportion of young (≤35 years) athletes with unsuspected heart disease are at increased risk of exercise related sudden cardiac death. The majority of such deaths are attributable to cardiac anomalies, most of which can be identified during life. A range of therapeutic strategies can be implemented t...

Cardiovascular Preparticipation Screening in Young Athletes

Cardiovascular (CV) screening in young competitive athletes is recommended by the majority of medical and sports governing organizations. There is, however, substantial controversy surrounding the most appropriate screening protocol and whether to add a resting 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) to the preparticipation history and physical examination. Rather than continue polarized debates and co...

Comments on the usefulness of echocardiography in preparticipation screening of competitive athletes.

Comments on the usefulness of echocardiography in preparticipation screening of competitive athletes. Response.

We appreciate the interest in our article shown by Dr. Zigor adaria and agree with him that echocardiography is a sensitive ethod for the diagnosis of silent heart disease and, specifically, r the identification of the origin of both coronary arteries. wever, in contrast to an earlier report, recent studies seem to ace greater importance on the need for surgical treatment of omalous origin of t...