Cardiac Screening before Participation in Sports

Engl J Med 2013; 369:2049-2053November 21, 2013DOI: 10.1056/NEJMclde1311642

Case Vignette

The director of a high school athletic program is considering implementation of a requirement that all student athletes undergo cardiac screening by a physician before participating in any school-sponsored athletic team. Several teachers at the high school have been advocating for a mandatory screening program after seeing a television news report that featured a student from a nearby high school who died from a sudden cardiac arrest while playing basketball. However, coaches have expressed concern to the athletic director that instituting such a requirement would discourage students from playing organized sports and could be a financial burden for some families.

The athletic director seeks your advice on the following two questions:

1. Should young athletes be required to undergo cardiac screening before participating in sports?

2. If an athlete does undergo screening, should the screening involve only a history and physical examination, or should electrocardiography (ECG) also be required?

Recommendations

What do you recommend? To aid in your decision making, four experts in the field defend the possible answers to each of these questions. On the basis of your assessment of the experts' opinions, your reading of published literature, other information sources, and your own clinical experience, make your choices and offer your comments at NEJM.org.

  • Question 1, Option 1: Require Young Athletes to Undergo Cardiac Screening before Participation in Sports (Sanjay Sharma, M.D.)
  • Question 1, Option 2: Do Not Require Young Athletes to Undergo Cardiac Screening before Participation in Sports N.A. (Mark Estes, III, M.D.)
  • Question 2, Option 1: Cardiac Screening for Young Athletes before Participation in Sports Should Include a History and Physical Examination Only (Victoria L. Vetter, M.D.)
  • Question 2, Option 2: Cardiac Screening for Young Athletes before Participation in Sports Should Include a History, Physical Examination, and ECG (Domenico Corrado, M.D., Ph.D.)
     

Approfondisci la lettura scaricando l'allegato o visita il sito

http://www.nejm.org

Attachments:
Download this file (nejmclde1311642.pdf)nejmclde1311642.pdf[ ]512 kB

 

Managing tobacco use: the neglected cardiovascular disease risk factor                  

 

"Il fumo di sigaretta è un fattore di rischio per la malattia cardiovascolare (CVD) e la principale causa evitabile di morte nel mondo. L'esposizione al fumo passivo (SHS) aumenta il rischio di malattia cardiovascolare tra i non fumatori. Smettere di fumare determina benefici per tutti i fumatori, indipendentemente dall'età."

Con queste parole inizia l’abstract, sotto riportato, dell’articolo pubblicato dalla European Heart Journal. La versione full text in formato (.pdf) è recuperabile dal sito

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org