The new study recommends performing the electrocardiogram (ECG), which records heart activity, while exercising because that can diagnose four times as many abnormalities as while resting. The study found that a large number of previously healthy people collapse and die from undiagnosed heart abnormalities, such as sudden cardiac arrest on the playing ground.
Dr. Francesco Sofi of the University of Florence and colleagues analyzed the ECG data from 30,065 athletes and found that 1.2 percent of participants had distinctly abnormal test results. The results from the ECGs taken during exercise found that 4.9 percent of participants had some form of heart abnormality, BBC reports.
The average age of those diagnosed while exercising was almost 31, compared to 25 while resting. The researchers found that of the 159 people disqualified from a sport for heart problems, six would have been identified through regular physical examination alone.
Scientists writing in the British Medical Journal said cardiac death in the young athletes is very rare but it has now warning signs and can strike anyone. The recent case involved the death of Cameroon footballer Marc Vivien Foe, who collapsed and died while in the middle of a match.
Most American and European authorities screen would-be competitors with a physical examination, and a detailed patient and family history. The Italian study, carried out at the Institute of Sports Medicine in Florence, recommends making the ECG test mandatory.
