[Cardiovascular preparticipation screening of competitive athletes]

Cardiovascular deaths during or following sport activities repeatedly raise the question about a practicable preparticipation screening for athletes to prevent such adverse events. In Germany and most European countries, well-equipped sports medicine centers evaluate the health of the Olympic athletes through regular checkups, which include a detailed medical history and thorough physical examination as well as an ECG at rest, a stress ECG, and an echocardiography. In professional sports, guidelines for this screening differ according to the federations, however, most of them intend to follow the recommendations of the Olympic sports system. For nonprofessional competitive sports, there are no guidelines for preparticipation screening, although these athletes train at the same level of intensity as professional athletes. The main issue in this international debate is the question of cost-effectiveness and how to finance preventive measures.