[Sudden cardiac death in athletes and its prevention].

Athletes and especially elite athletes are predominantly young people and are not associated with high health risks, apart from traumatic injuries. Nevertheless, there is a significantly high incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD), which ranges from 0.6 to 3.0/100,000 athletes per year. Often the SCD is the first manifestation of an underlying cardiac disease. Distinct structural cardiac disorders, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, coronary artery anomalies (17 %), inflammatory disorders (6 %) and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy as well as conditions without structural cardiac abnormalities, such as primary electrical diseases (channelopathies) are important causes of sudden death. A simple screening can help to identify athletes with these diseases and allow specific therapies or precautionary measures to be initiated.