Background and objectives: An Italian nationwide pre-participation screening approach for prevention of sudden cardiac death in athletes (SCD-A) in competitive sportspeople showed promising results but did not achieve international consensus, due to cost-effectiveness and the shortfall of a monitoring plan. From this perspective, we tried to provide an epidemiological update of SCD-A in Italy through a year-long internet-based search. Materials and Methods: One year-long Google search was performed using mandatory and non-mandatory keywords. Data were collected according to prevalent SCD-A definition and matched with sport-related figures from Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). Results: Ninety-eight cases of SCD-A in 2019 were identified (48.0% competitive, 52.0% non-competitive athletes). Male/female ratio was 13:1. The most common sports were soccer (33.7%), athletics (15.3%) and fitness (13.3%). A conclusive diagnosis was achieved only in 37 cases (33 of cardiac origin), with the leading diagnosis being coronary artery disease in 27 and a notably higher occurrence among master athletes. Combining these findings with ISTAT and CONI data, the SCD-A incidence rate in the whole Italian sport population was found to be 0.47/100,000 persons per year (1.00/100,000 in the competitive and 0.32/100,000 in the non-competitive population). The relative risk of SCD-A is 3.1 (CI 2.1-4.7; p < 0.0001) for competitive compared to non-competitive athletes; 9.9 for male (CI 4.6-21.4; p < 0.0001) with respect to female. Conclusions: We provided an updated incidence rate of SCD-A in both competitive and non-competitive sport in Italy. A higher risk of SCD-A among competitive and male athletes was confirmed, thus corroborating the value of Italian pre-participation screening in this population.
Background and objectives: An Italian nationwide pre-participation screening approach for prevention of sudden cardiac death in athletes (SCD-A) in competitive sportspeople showed promising results but did not achieve international consensus, due to cost-effectiveness and the shortfall of a monitoring plan. From this perspective, we tried to provide an epidemiological update of SCD-A in Italy through a year-long internet-based search. Materials and Methods: One year-long Google search was performed using mandatory and non-mandatory keywords. Data were collected according to prevalent SCD-A definition and matched with sport-related figures from Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). Results: Ninety-eight cases of SCD-A in 2019 were identified (48.0% competitive, 52.0% non-competitive athletes). Male/female ratio was 13:1. The most common sports were soccer (33.7%), athletics (15.3%) and fitness (13.3%). A conclusive diagnosis was achieved only in 37 cases (33 of cardiac origin), with the leading diagnosis being coronary artery disease in 27 and a notably higher occurrence among master athletes. Combining these findings with ISTAT and CONI data, the SCD-A incidence rate in the whole Italian sport population was found to be 0.47/100,000 persons per year (1.00/100,000 in the competitive and 0.32/100,000 in the non-competitive population). The relative risk of SCD-A is 3.1 (CI 2.1-4.7; p < 0.0001) for competitive compared to non-competitive athletes; 9.9 for male (CI 4.6-21.4; p < 0.0001) with respect to female. Conclusions: We provided an updated incidence rate of SCD-A in both competitive and non-competitive sport in Italy. A higher risk of SCD-A among competitive and male athletes was confirmed, thus corroborating the value of Italian pre-participation screening in this population.
Authors: Barry J Maron; Paul D Thompson; Michael J Ackerman; Gary Balady; Stuart Berger; David Cohen; Robert Dimeff; Pamela S Douglas; David W Glover; Adolph M Hutter; Michael D Krauss; Martin S Maron; Matthew J Mitten; William O Roberts; James C Puffer Journal: Circulation Date: 2007-03-12 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: E E Solberg; M Borjesson; S Sharma; M Papadakis; M Wilhelm; J A Drezner; K G Harmon; J M Alonso; H Heidbuchel; D Dugmore; N M Panhuyzen-Goedkoop; K-P Mellwig; F Carre; H Rasmusen; J Niebauer; E R Behr; G Thiene; M N Sheppard; C Basso; D Corrado Journal: Eur J Prev Cardiol Date: 2015-08-18 Impact factor: 7.804
Authors: Barry J Maron; Benjamin D Levine; Reginald L Washington; Aaron L Baggish; Richard J Kovacs; Martin S Maron Journal: Circulation Date: 2015-11-02 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Mafalda Carrington; Rui Providência; C Anwar A Chahal; Flavio D'Ascenzi; Alberto Cipriani; Fabrizio Ricci; Mohammed Y Khanji Journal: Front Cardiovasc Med Date: 2022-02-15