Background For more than 20 years in Italy, young athletes have been screened before
participating in competitive sports. We assessed whether this strategy results in the
prevention of sudden death from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common cardiovascular
cause of death in young athletes. Methods We prospectively studied sudden deaths among
athletes and nonathletes (35 years of age or less) in the Veneto region of Italy from 1979 to
1996. The causes of sudden death in both populations were compared, and the pathological …

Last autumn the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association launched a campaign to raise
awareness of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and, together with the Sports Council's National
Sports Medicine Institute, announced a pilot screening programme to detect the condition
among young athletes.'The association's aims are laudable: counselling and support,
provisionof information, promotion of increased awareness to both the public and doctors,
and support for research. Specific screening campaigns, however, should be based on a …