[The risk of sudden death in sports practice--can it be diagnosed and reduced?]

The sudden death of a sportsman in full action is fortunately rather uncommon. Nevertheless, it is all the more frightening, as it befalls unexpectedly someone who is seemingly in full health. Moreover, this type of accident, essentially a cardiac event, strikes more often competitive athletes than leisure sportsmen, who are submitting themselves to more moderate exertions. The mechanism leading to death is in most cases a heart rhythm problem ending in ventricular fibrillation. Its origins are generally a cardiomyopathy or an inborn structural anomaly of the heart in young subjects. In men over 30 years of age, most deaths can be explained by degenerative coronary disorders. It is important to note that 93% of sudden death victims related to exertion in sports are men, even if women form 45% of practising sports people. A large part of the decreased had already a functional disorder, often angina, before the tragic event took place. 38% of this group even took medical advice from a cardiologist. We may thus consider that a fraction of these deaths could be prevented through diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Therefore, sports people should be better informed on the risks they incur in not taking care of themselves. This information has to be distributed on a large scale. With regard to the other cases, we should examine which detection tests are to be discussed and used. They may involve a financial problem, but should nevertheless be considered carefully.