Regular screening among sportsmen in Nigeria: rationale and basis.

BACKGROUND: Participation in regular prolonged physical exercise is associated with specific adaptation in cardiac structure and function which could predispose to sudden cardiac death and has been recorded in celebrated cases and with an increasing frequency in recent time especially in Nigerian footballers. There is no policy or strategy in place for preventing recurrence OBJECTIVE: To review the current literature on sudden death in athletes generally, identify current strategies that have been found useful and recommend measures to prevent or reduce prevalence in Nigerian sportsmen. METHOD: Internet search on the subject using Google and Medline web search engine. The search words were sudden death, athletes, Africans and sports screening. RESULT: Sudden death in young athletes is rare occurring in in n 100,000 to 1 in 280,000 persons per year and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the commonest cause and blacks are more affected than caucasians. Screening guidelines are available in some countries and mandatory pre participatory screening has reduced the incidence of sudden death in athletes in these countries. In Nigeria there is no legislation or policy on routine screening in sportsmen or measures to prevent or reduce incident of sudden death in athletes. CONCLUSION: There has been increased report of sudden death in Nigerian footballers in recent years and the investigations into these deaths are shrouded in secrecy. There is no policy for routine screening of sports participants in Nigeria, there is urgent need to develop a policy to ensure appropriate pre participation screening for all sportsmen and women each year or at the beginning of each sports season.