(July 3, 2008 - Insidermedicine) A comprehensive screening program for athletes should include both a resting and exercise electrocardiogram to identify those with heart abnormalities that place them at risk for sudden death, according to research published in the British Medical Journal.

Here is some information about sudden death in athletes:

•    Some estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 15,000 joggers or 1 in 50,000 marathoners experience sudden death.

•    In an athlete, sudden death usually occurs during or immediately after exercise.

•    The most common causes of sudden death in athletes relate to abnormalities of the heart and cardiovascular system.

Researchers out of the Institute of Sports Medicine at the University of Florence analyzed data from over 30,000 athletes who underwent pre-participation cardiovascular screening, including resting and exercise ECG. ECG records the electrical activity of the heart and abnormal findings could be a sign of a heart disorder associated with a risk for sudden cardiac death.

While only 1.2% of the athletes had abnormal results on the resting ECG, 4.9% had abnormal findings using exercise ECG. The exercise ECG was more likely to pick up abnormalities in older athletes. Among the 159 athletes disqualified because of the results of their exercise ECG, 95% would have been missed by history and physical examination alone, and 80% would have been missed by resting ECG.

Today's research demonstrates how the addition of both resting and exercise ECG to the pre-screening of competitive athletes could save lives. 

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.