Preparticipation cardiovascular screening among National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institutions.

BACKGROUND: Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in competitive athletes during sport, and screening strategies for the prevention of sudden cardiac death are debated. The purpose of this study was to assess the incorporation of routine non-invasive cardiovascular screening (NICS), such as ECG or echocardiography, in Division I collegiate preparticipation examinations. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of current screening practices sent to the head athletic trainer of all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football programmes listed in the National Athletic Trainers' Association directory. RESULTS: Seventy-four of 116 (64%) programmes responded. Thirty-five of 74 (47%) of responding schools have incorporated routine NICS testing. ECG is the primary modality for NICS in 31 (42%) of schools, and 17 (49%) also utilise echocardiography. Sixty-four per cent of the programmes that do NICS routinely screen their athletes only once as incoming freshmen. Of institutions that do not conduct NICS, American Heart Association guidelines against routine NICS and cost were the most common reasons reported. CONCLUSIONS: While substantial debate exists regarding protocols for cardiovascular screening in athletes, nearly half of NCAA Division I football programmes in this study already incorporate NICS into their preparticipation screening programme. Additional research is needed to understand the impact of NICS in collegiate programmes.

Gastrointestinal temperature trends in football linemen during physical exertion under heat stress.

CONTEXT: Exertional heat stroke is the third leading cause of death in US athletes. Elevations in core temperature in the digestive tract (TGI) have correlated with core temperature and are possible indicators of those at increased risk of heat stroke. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to compare a.m. vs. p.m. TGI variation in collegiate football linemen during intense "two-a-day" preseason practice. A secondary objective was to compare longitudinal TGI in offensive and defensive linemen. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. SETTING: Division I Intercollegiate Athletics Football Program. INTERVENTIONS: TGI was monitored during consecutive preseason sessions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: TGI, heat illness, weight changes, environmental stress, and subjective symptoms. RESULTS: Mean TGI were 37.8°C and 38.3°C during a.m. and p.m. practices, respectively. The a.m. practices revealed higher TGI gain (1.8°C) compared to p.m. (1.4°C). The p.m. practices had higher maximum TGI than a.m. practices (39.1°C versus 38.8, P=0.0001). Mean time to maximum temperature (Tmax) was 1 hr and 30 min for a.m. and 1 hr and 22 min for p.m. practices. Offensive linemen trended toward higher mean TGI than defensive players (38.0°C vs. 36.7°C, P = 0.069). The rate of rise in TGI was significantly greater in a.m. practices. A decrease in rate of TGI rise was seen from the first to last a.m. practices of the week (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: Significant TGI elevations in asymptomatic athletes are common in extreme heat during football practice. Intense a.m. practices in full gear result in higher net temperature gain and rate of temperature gain than p.m. practices. Offensive linemen trended toward higher TGI than defensive linemen. As players acclimatized, a decrease in the rate of TGI increase was appreciable, particularly in a.m. practices. Appreciating cumulative heat stress and variations in heat stress related to scheduling of practice is critical.

Return to activity considerations in a football player predisposed to exertional heat illness: a case study.

CONTEXT: Heat illness is the third leading cause of death in athletics and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in exercising athletes. Once faced with a case of heat related illness, severe or mild, the health care professional is often faced with the question of when to reactivate the athlete for competitive sport. Resuming activity without modifying risk factors could lead to recurrence of heat related illness of similar or greater severity. Also, having had heat illness in and of itself may be a risk factor for future heat related illness. The decision to return the athlete and the process of risk reduction is complex and requires input from all of the components of the team. Involving the entire sports medicine team often allows for the safest, most successful return to play strategy. Care must be taken once the athlete does begin to return to activity to allow for re-acclimatization to exercise in the heat prior to resumption particularly following a long convalescent period after more severe heat related illness.

Heat illness symptom index (HISI): a novel instrument for the assessment of heat illness in athletes.

BACKGROUND: Heatstroke is the third leading cause of death in athletics, and an important cause of morbidity and mortality in exercising athletes. There is no current method, however, for identifying milder forms of heat illness. In this pilot study, we sought to develop and provide initial validation for a Heat Illness Symptom Index scale (HISI) that would facilitate research in the assessment of milder forms of heat illness in athletes. METHODS: The study was designed as a multimodal prospective observational study of Division I football players during twice daily practices in southern Florida. We developed a 13-item scale that assessed symptoms that are suspected to occur during milder forms of heat illness. The resultant scale was assessed for reliability using Cronbach's alpha, and was assessed for construct validity by correlating scale scores with factors that are known to be related to heat illness. HISI scores, as well as data on perceived exertion, player position, and pre and post practice weights were collected from 95 athletes participating in late summer football practices. A total of 557 athlete sessions were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean score on the heat illness symptom scale was 12.1 (SD 13.8) and the median value was 8.0. Cronbach's alpha confirmed suitable internal consistency of the scale when assessed separately for each of the five morning practices (alpha = 0.91, 0.88, 0.82, 0.92, 0.85). There were statistically significant correlations of the scale score with weight loss during practice (P = 0.006), rating of perceived exertion (P = 0.005), player position (P < 0.0001), and ambient heat index (P = 0.02) as hypothesized. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study provides initial validation for a novel symptom-based tool for use in assessing mild forms of heat illness in an athletic population. Further validation studies of the instrument, and correlating symptom scores with measures of core temperature, are needed and planned.

New World monkey Aotus nancymae as a model for Campylobacter jejuni infection and immunity.

Three groups of six monkeys (Aotus nancymae) each were inoculated intragastrically with increasing doses of Campylobacter jejuni. Infection resulted in fecal colonization (100% of monkeys), dose-related diarrhea, and robust immune responses. Colonization duration and diarrhea rate were reduced upon secondary challenge. A. nancymae may be useful for studying anti-Campylobacter vaccine efficacy.

Short report: High incidence of shigellosis among Peruvian soldiers deployed in the Amazon River basin.

We investigated the etiology of acute diarrhea among Peruvian military recruits undergoing three months of basic combat training near the Amazonian city of Iquitos. From January through September 2002, 307 of 967 recruits were seen at the Health Post for diarrhea (attack rate [AR] = 31.8%, incidence = 1.28 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14-1.43] episodes/person-year). Shigella spp. were the most common bacterial pathogen recovered from recruits experiencing diarrhea episodes. These bacteria were isolated from 89 (40%) of 225 diarrheal stools examined (AR = 7.6%, incidence = 0.30 [95% CI = 0.24-0.38] episodes/person-year). Most (83 of 90; 92%) of the Shigella isolates were S. flexneri, of which 57 (69%) were serotype 2a. Seventy-six percent of Shigella isolates were resistant to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim and all were sensitive to ciprofloxacin. Peruvian soldiers may be an excellent population in which to test the efficacy of S. flexneri vaccines in advanced development.