Acute cardiac care & resuscitationCohort study
Clinical Characteristics and Emergency Response to Sudden Cardiac Arrest/Death Secondary to Cardiomyopathies in Young Athletes
- observational study
- longitudinal surveillance
Authors' conclusion
SCA/D due to CMs in young athletes occurs across a broad age spectrum and at diverse sports settings. These findings inform funding priorities and resource allocation to optimize emergency preparedness for SCA/D in sport.
Study context
- Population
- Young competitive athletes aged ≥11 years old competing in middle school, high school, club, college, or semiprofessional/professional sports, and former athletes (within 1 year of participation), with SCA/D related to cardiomyopathies (CMs)cases of SCA/D attributed to CMs among 454 cases with sufficient information to determine etiology, 2002 to 2023 · hypertrophic CM 81 · arrhythmogenic CM 22 · other CMs 26
- Participants
- 129 athletes
- Exposure
- hypertrophic CM vs arrhythmogenic CM vs other CMs
- hypertrophic CMn = 81
- arrhythmogenic CMn = 22
- other CMsn = 26
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
SCA/D attributed to CMs · 2002 to 2023
- Cases attributed to CMs
- 129/454 (28.4%)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | Values |
|---|---|
| Activity at SCA/D event | practice/training 74.7% · formal games/competition 25.3% |
| Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation | Survivors 97.6% · Non-survivors 80.6% |
| On-site automated external defibrillator use | Survivors 72.4% · Non-survivors 16.2% |
- Activity at SCA/D event: P < 0.0001
- Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation: P = 0.04
- On-site automated external defibrillator use: P = 0.0001
Age
- Age range
- 11-27 years
- hypertrophic CM cases occurring at the youngest average age compared with arrhythmogenic CM or other CM
SCA/D events at a sporting facility
- Occurred at a sporting facility
- 87/129 (67.4%)
Survival from SCA related to CMs
- Survival
- 45/129 (34.9%)
Original publication
Clinical Characteristics and Emergency Response to Sudden Cardiac Arrest/Death Secondary to Cardiomyopathies in Young Athletes. JACC Adv. Published 31 July 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.103093
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it