Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy screening
Editors-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1], Cafer Zorkun, M.D. [2], Caitlin J. Harrigan [3], Martin S. Maron, M.D., and Barry J. Maron, M.D.
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Screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM) is a controversial subject in the medical community, as HCM is the leading cause of sudden death in athletes.
- AHA/ACC recommends that family history of the athlete should be sorted for any incidence of sudden death or presence of HCM in any of the family members.
- If family history is positive, physical examination and echocardiography should be done.
- In Italy, all competitive athletes are required to go through pre-participation screening of HCM
- This particular program has been in existence since 1982, and screening generally includes:
- 12-lead ECG
- General and cardiovascular physical examination, including blood pressure measurements
- Family history
- Over 3 million competitive athletes are evaluated each year, and athletes judged to be free of cardiovascular disease receive a certificate enabling them to participate in competitive athleticsitalyref1
- In a study done in Italy over a 9-year period (1990-1998), 4450 competitive athletes were screened for HCM. Based on echocardiographic evaluation, 4397 of the athletes were excluded from a clinical diagnosis of HCMitalyref1