Update: Causes and symptoms of sudden cardiac death in young athletes

Laboratory medicine: health evaluation in elite athletes

The need to evaluate the health status of an athlete represents a crucial aim in preventive and protective sports science in order to identify the best diagnostic strategy to improve performance and reduce risks related to physical exercise. In the present review we aim to define the main biochemical and haematological markers that vary significantly during and after sports training to identify risk factors, at competitive and professional levels and to highlight the set up of a specific parameter's panel for elite athletes. Moreover, we also intend to consider additional biomarkers, still under investigation, which could further contribute to laboratory sports medicine and provide reliable data that can be used by athlete's competent staff in order to establish personal attitudes and prevent sports injuries.

Demographics and Epidemiology of Sudden Deaths in Young Competitive Athletes: From the United States National Registry

BACKGROUND

Sudden deaths in young competitive athletes are tragic events, with high public visibility. The importance of race and gender with respect to sport and the diagnosis and causes of sudden death in athletes has generated substantial interest.

METHODS

The US National Registry of Sudden Death in Athletes, 1980-2011, was accessed to define the epidemiology and causes of sudden deaths in competitive athletes. A total of 2406 deaths were identified in young athletes aged 19 ± 6 years engaged in 29 diverse sports.

RESULTS

Among the 842 athletes with autopsy-confirmed cardiovascular diagnoses, the incidence in males exceeded that in females by 6.5-fold (1:121; 691 vs 1:787,392 athlete-years; P ≤.001). Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was the single most common cause of sudden death, occurring in 302 of 842 athletes (36%) and accounting for 39% of male sudden deaths, almost 4-fold more common than among females (11%; P ≤.001). More frequent among females were congenital coronary artery anomalies (33% vs 17% of males; P ≤.001), arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (13% vs 4%; P = .002), and clinically diagnosed long QT syndrome (7% vs 1.5%; P ≤.002). The cardiovascular death rate among African Americans/other minorities exceeded whites by almost 5-fold (1:12,778 vs 1:60; 746 athlete-years; P <.001), and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was more common among African Americans/other minorities (42%) than in whites (31%; P ≤.001). Male and female basketball players were 3-fold more likely to be African American/other minorities than white.

CONCLUSIONS

Within this large forensic registry of competitive athletes, cardiovascular sudden deaths due to genetic and/or congenital heart diseases were uncommon in females and more common in African Americans/other minorities than in whites. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is an under-appreciated cause of sudden death in male minority athletes.