And the winner of best 2016 BJSM cover is..

…SPORTS CARDIOLOGY: LOWERING RISK IN ATHLETES is the winning cover for 2016! Thank you to everyone that voted. The IOC Exercise & Pregnancy in Athletes Expert Group issue came in a close second. We caught up with Dr. Jonathan Drezner, Editor of the Sports Cardiology issue, to ask him a few questions. BJSM: Congratulations! How do […]

Read More…

Are elite athletes at higher risk of developing cardiovascular abnormalities than the average citizen?

By Javier S. Morales (MSc), Pedro L. Valenzuela (MSc), and Adrián Castillo García (MSc): @Fissac_es High performance sport is a focal point for the media, and sadly, cases of sudden death in elite athletes appear in the news with relative frequency. These news added to findings such as those of Pellicia et al. (2016), who reported an […]

Read More…

International Criteria for ECG Interpretation in Athletes- Top Ranked Journals Publish Consensus Guidelines

The new “International Criteria for ECG Interpretation in Athletes” consensus guidelines have been published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine and co-published in two prestigious cardiology journals, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the European Heart Journal. “This consensus guideline is a major milestone in the cardiovascular care of athletes,” said lead author and AMSSM past-president […]

Read More…

Cardiovascular screening in athletes: time to refocus!

By Dave Siebert, MD, @DaveMSiebert When medical students learn about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), one fact often resonates as a shocking and tragic reality: it frequently first presents as sudden death. Yet HCM is just one of a heterogeneous list of pathologic structural and electrical cardiac disorders that can cause sudden death in athletes without prior warning. […]

Read More…

Counseling athletes with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; a difficult task for the sports physician.

By Dr. Tijmen van Assen, Wouter van Everdingen, and Prabath Lodewijks Recently the combined American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) taskforces defined eligibility and disqualification recommendations for competitive athletes with cardiovascular abnormalities [1]. In this blog we discuss the recommendations of the task force concerning hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). HCM is the most common non-traumatic […]

Read More…

AMSSM and FIFA Hold 2nd Summit on ECG Interpretation in Athletes with top Worldwide Sports Cardiology Experts

Focus on scientifically driven ECG interpretation standards, developing clear guide to the proper evaluation of ECG abnormalities in athletes and updates to Free Online Training Program for Physicians. SEATTLE, Wash. – In a continued effort to help physicians more accurately interpret ECG results to improve cardiac safety in athletes and impact sudden cardiac death, the American Medical Society […]

Read More…

Life saved in semi final of SAFF Championship 2013 by FIFA-supplied AED (FMEB – FIFA Medical Emergency Bag)

Preventing sudden cardiac death was a critical forum topic at the 2012 FIFA Medical Conference in Budapest.  Advocates argued that pitch-side automated external defibrillators (AED) be required at FIFA competitions all over the world. In the last 5 years, only 24 of 84 football players who suffered cardiac arrest survived. Tragically, there was no AED available at the stadium in 80% […]

Read More…

Now the Wall Street Journal chimes in on athlete’s heart

Today a short link to the Wall Street Journal. [this link is to a free, shorter version of the paper – subscription version highlighted below]. BJSM Senior Associate Editor Jon Drezner is quoted liberally – all good stuff for sports medicine and for his University of Washington. Sports cardiology is a hot topic when it […]

Read More…

New Guidelines to Improve ECG/EKG Interpretation in Athletes – Guest Blog by Dr Babette Pluim

Should 12-lead ECG be part of the pre-participation examination of athletes? Those in favor of ECG screening argue that it reduces the risk of sudden cardiovascular death;  those against screening point out the low cost-effectiveness, the low disease prevalence resulting in a low positive predictive value, the difficulties in distinguishing abnormal electrocardiographic changes indicative of cardiac […]

Read More…

Guest Blog – Sports Cardiology by Dr Jon Drezner

This week in Circulation, Dr. Eloi Marijon and colleagues from France published their findings on sports-related sudden death.  This 5-year prospective observational study is an impressive achievement and also has a number of important findings. How high is an athlete’s risk of SCD? Notably, the relative risk of sports-related sudden death was 4.5 times higher […]

Read More…