Life saving pre-participation athletic screening

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) of a young athlete is the most tragic event in sports. Competitive sports activity is associated with an increase in the risk of arrhythmic SCD in susceptible subjects with clinically silent cardiovascular disorders. Screening including 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) has been demonstrated to allow identification of athletes affected by malignant cardiomyopathies at a pre-symptomatic stage and leads to substantial reduction of SCD during sports. We report a case of a life-saving pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation in a young athlete.