Study of sudden cardiac deaths in young athletes

Sudden cardiac deaths in athletes are usually due to underlying cardiovascular disease. The final pathway is usually ventricular fibrillation following hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and coronary artery anomalies in young persons below the age of 30 years. Sudden cardiac death in young is rare but remains as a source of concern. A postmortem study was conducted to ascertain the cardiac causes of sudden death in persons below the age group 30 years following exercise in games or otherwise. Out of 15 cases in autopsy finding, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (n=7) was the commonest cause followed by coronary artery anomalies (n=4). Sudden unexpected death is a source of concern and careful screening of history and physical examination for potential athletes should identify majority of people at risk.