Cardiac tests to prevent athlete deaths

Some countries, such as Italy, have already adopted mandatory cardiac screening. Photo / Thinkstock

More than 1000 athletes are to be involved in an Australian trial to see if mandatory cardiac screening is an option to prevent sudden deaths in competitive sport.

AFL players, international cyclists, soccer players, triathletes, netballers, basketballers and swimmers are all participating in the trial at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne.

St Vincent's cardiologist Associate Professor David Prior on Sunday said more than 300 elite and professional athletes had already been screened at St Vincent's Cardiac Investigation Unit.

The screening involves an electrocardiogram (ECG) recording and an examination of family histories for cardiac events.

"We are trying to determine if there is value in using an ECG as part of mandatory cardiac screening in Australia to detect heart abnormalities which may lead to cardiac arrest during competition," he said.

"What we hope to learn through the trial is whether Australian athletes have similar rates of ECG abnormalities to those seen in overseas cohorts where the impact of screening has been more closely examined.

"Some countries have adopted mandatory ECG screening, most notably Italy in 1982, and the current guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) advocate mandatory ECG screening."

The International Cycling Union (UCI) and the International Olympic Committee both recommend significant screening measures, but not everybody supports such measures.

"There is still much debate about the value of screening and whether or not it reduces these incidents but when someone suddenly collapses on the sports field, particularly if it's due to a life threatening heart condition, it's a terribly traumatic event," Professor Prior said.

"What we are trying to do is determine the value of mandatory screening in Australia and whether or not it would enable us to prevent a tragedy."

- AAP