Sports cardiology: preventing sudden cardiac death

The sudden death of an athlete on the playing field remains one of the most striking and tragic events in sport. For the sports physician, the occurrence of an athlete in sudden cardiac arrest is both unforgettable and terrifying. Well-known cases such as Hank Gathers (1990), Marc-Vivien Foe (2003) and Fabrice Muamba (2012), provide graphic examples of an athlete enduring this deadly crisis—collapsed and unresponsive, eyes rolled back, brief myoclonic seizure-like activity and perhaps the presence of agonal respirations as limbs go from rigid to limp. For physicians responsible for the medical care of athletes, a single universal priority should guide our clinical efforts, namely to protect the health and safety of athletes. This journal once again assumes a leading role in the field of sports cardiology by presenting …