Sudden death of an athlete due to concealed arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: Why preparticipation screening did fail

Alessandro Zorzi; Carlo Moreschi; Cristina Basso; Gaetano Thiene

doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2022.02.035

Sudden death of an athlete due to concealed arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: Why preparticipation screening did fail

Int J Cardiol. 2022 Mar 3:S0167-5273(22)00319-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2022.02.035. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Alessandro Zorzi¹, Carlo Moreschi², Cristina Basso¹, Gaetano Thiene³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, Italy.
² Department of Medicine, Section of Forensic Medicine, University of Udine.
³ Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, Italy. Electronic address: gaetano.thiene@unipd.it.

PMID: 35248625
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2022.02.035

Abstract

We report the case of a professional soccer athlete who died suddenly for arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy that was not diagnosed at the time of preparticipation screening. Exercise testing had repeatedly shown effort-induced premature ventricular beats with normal echocardiography, which was considered reassuring. However, there is emerging evidence that cardiac diseases characterized by focal ventricular scarring may not cause wall motion abnormalities and can be revealed only by tissue characterization with cardiac magnetic resonance. Modern interpretation of premature ventricular beats features is essential to select athletes who should undergo advanced cardiac imaging investigations, to achieve a correct diagnosis and allow safe sport participation.

Keywords: Cardiac arrest; Cardiomyopathy; Sports cardiology; Ventricular fibrillation; Ventricular tachycardia.

Publication types

Review