Of the approximately 400,000 student-athletes in the United States, one in 44,000 dies every year from sudden cardiac arrest, raising questions about what universities can do to detect the root causes of these occurrences.

Researchers at the University of Washington, writing in the journal Circulation, found that increased training can often heighten the risk factors associated with sudden cardiac arrest. They also drilled down on which sports exhibited the highest mortality rate.

Analyzing dozens of student-athlete deaths from 2004 to 2008, lead author Kim Harmon and her team zeroed in on some rather illuminating (and startling) nuggets of info:

Now, it’d be nice to say that this research could lead to some increased awareness pertaining to sudden cardiac arrest, but it is often (by its very nature) rooted in some mysterious and often undetectable condition. The most common cause is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an often symptom-free condition where the lining of the heart muscles thicken and restrict blood flow. That’s what killed Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis back in 1993.

Indeed, many other basketball stars over the years — Hank Gathers and Pete Maravich, just to name a couple — have died from sudden cardiac arrest. While frequent electrocardiograms have been recommended to detect cardiovascular abnormalities, the machines cost thousands of dollars each and can be cost-prohibitive (not to mention time-intensive).

And when you’re looking at a potential sample size of around 400,000 student-athletes, ranging in age from 17 to 23, in any given academic year, the ability to keep tabs on warning signs on every one of those athletes depends greatly on the universities themselves. For those with millions of dollars in booster money to throw at the issue, that’s much more feasible. But for smaller institutions, particularly those in warmer climates that can more quickly tax athletes’ bodies, the onus is on hiring experienced health professionals who can monitor and diagnose problems at the outset, whether that involves EKGs or not.

Harmon, who’s also a team physician for University of Washington athletes, said as much when the study was published: “You have to revisit the whole question of whether a more extensive screening makes sense in light of these new numbers. The question is: where do you set the risk cutoff — one in 10,000, or 40,000, or 100,000?”

Citation: Kimberly G. Harmon, Irfan M. Asif, David Klossner, and Jonathan A. Drezner. “Incidence of Sudden Cardiac Death in National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletes.” Circulation, 2011; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.004622

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