Prevent Sudden Death in Athletes

AHA Guidelines for Screening Student Athletes

Physician's First Watch for November 19, 2007

The American Heart Association has updated its guidelines for screening student athletes, last issued in 1996. The AHA says its panel's recommendations remain "virtually unaltered."

The guidelines, issued earlier this year, include the following:

• Routine use of 12-lead ECG is not recommended for mass screening, despite use of ECG in Europe, because the idea "is probably impractical and would require considerable resources [to perform and interpret them] that do not currently exist."
• A complete and cardiovascular-targeted personal and family history and physical exam (including brachial artery blood pressure) should be performed.
• High school athletes should undergo exams every 2 years; college athletes should be examined at matriculation and then every year thereafter.

(Last autumn, we reported that sudden death had decreased by almost 90% in Italy since implementation of a national screening program that included the routine use of ECG.)

AHA guideline (Free PDF)