A recent story published in the LA Times (Jeannine Stein, 11/23/09) suggests that comprehensive screenings could be the answer to the tragedy of a young athlete dying of an undiagnosed heart condition.  Health histories and screenings were conducted on 134 Maryland high school athletes attending the state track and field championships in 2008. 

Dr. Aurelio Pinheiro of the the Johns Hopkins School of medicine and his colleagues were specifically looking for cardiac abnormalities such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle that makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood.

Of the 134 athletes tested (tests included an echocardiogram, an EKG, blood pressure, and health history), abnormalities of some kind were found in 36 athletes.  Of those 36, 22 were found via EKG alone and five by both tests. 

Dr. Pinheiro states that these findings argue for routine testing of athletes, suggesting that such testing should be comprehensive and not reliant on just an EKG or an echocardiogram.  

This study was presented at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions conference in Orlando, Florida in November, 2009.