By Kate Bright
We don't normally think about young athletes having heart conditions, but it is important to understand it can happen. To detect these cases most programs have athletes take part in physical examinations, which can detect some but not all heart problems. As a parent or coach, if there is a history of heart disease in the athlete's family, or if there is any thought in your mind that an athlete may have a heart condition, encourage the athlete to get more than a routine athletic physical. That ounce of prevention might save a life.
It also helps to get educated about the different kinds of heart conditions affecting athletes. There are many articles throughout the internet addressing cardiac issues in young athletes. Below are a two resources addressing specific conditions.
HOCM, or Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, is the most common cause of sudden death in athletes under 30 years of age. This heart condition, put in the most simplest of terms, is an enlargement and hardening of the left side of the heart. Rodney Samaan writes about previous cases of HOCM in athletics, and describes the condition in his article, Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes.
ARVD, Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia, is another heart condition which the medical industry is still trying to understand. Instances of sudden death due to ARVD occur mostly in Italy, accounting for 25% of cardiac sudden death. It has found to be related to genetic mutations, and instances have been reported throughout the United States, accounting for 5% of the 300,000 cardiac related deaths in the U.S. The medical industry hopes someday a blood test will be the more accurate and the easiest way to diagnose ARVD. This article by Lynda Belcher, Genetic Roots of Rare but Often Fatal Heart Condition in Young Athletes, does a nice job describing ARVD and the hopes of future diagnosing.
Thanks for promoting positive youth development through sports!