Pre-Sport Cardiac Evaluation in Children: Detection of Risks Other Than Sudden Cardiac Death

Sudden deaths may occur in children and adolescents due to unexpected cardiac problems during sports. This study aimed to screen for abnormalities that may lead to future morbidity in addition to the risk of sudden death and to investigate the importance of electrocardiography and echocardiography in detecting cardiac problems before sports license.

Pediatric patients who visited the Pediatric Cardiology outpatient clinic of Malatya Training and Research Hospital between April 2022 and April 2024 to obtain a sports license report and who did not have any known heart disease before were included. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0.

A total of 2432 patients were admitted to our hospital for pre-sport evaluation within 2 years. In 2089 of those, there were no known heart problems. Various heart problems were detected in 195 (9.3%) of the 2089 cases. In our study, 169 (8.1%) patients had echocardiography (ECHO) and 33 (1.7%) had electrocardiography (ECG) abnormality. Eight patients (0.3%) showed pathological findings on both ECHO and ECG. In addition, elevated arterial blood pressure was detected in three (0.14%). Of the cases with cardiac abnormality, 110 (56%) were male and 85 (46%) were female, and the average age was 12 (5-18).

Our study shows that approximately one out of every 10 patients in the population may have cardiological problems and 2.3% of these patients have major cardiac problems. Therefore, we recommend that all pediatric patients undergo a detailed cardiac evaluation at least once in the early stages of their lives.