[The incidence of sudden cardiac death in athletes].
BACKGROUND
Despite remarkable advances in medicine and sports, sudden cardiac death remains a significant problem.
The incidence of sudden cardiac death varies in different studies and there are no systematic data about it. It varies in different types of sports, with age and sex.
Many changes in cardiac morphology and function represent an adaptive response to physical activity. As a result, the heart undergoes profound morphologic, functional and electrophysiological alterations. But as there are different kinds of physical activities, the degree of these morphological changes is highly variable. It is needless to say how important it is to know which changes in the heart due to physical activity are normal, and when they are pathological. Considering the results of many studies, the main cause of sudden cardiac death is hypertrophic cardiomiopathy. CONCLUSION It is very important to distinguish physiological changes of the heart due to physical activity, and pathological changes due to some cardiac diseases. That is why, clear recommendations on intensity, type, duration and frequency of physical training in every sports discipline are necessary. That is the only way to decrease the incidence of sudden cardiac death in athletes.
Popović
Dejana
D
Institut za medicinsku fiziologiju, Medicinski fakultet, Beograd.
Mazić
Sanja
S
Nesić
Dejan
D
Sćepanović
Ljiljana
L
Aleksandrić
Branimir
B
Ostojić
Miodrag C
MC
D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000150:complications; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D013177:Sports