At Home with Chris Jessen 2018 - 99

MEET THE EXPERT

WHILE RARE,
SUDDEN CARDIAC
DEATH IS TWO
TO FOUR TIMES
MORE COMMON IN
ATHLETES THAN IN
NON-ATHLETES

A CT coronary calcium scan: the heart is the
light grey mass in the middle and the arrow
points to the calcified plaque

best of medical advice, modern
treatments and lifestyle changes to
make a difference and help avoid a
future heart attack and other forms of
vascular disease, such as stroke.

Cardiac screening in
sportspeople

Sudden death in people younger than
35 is rare, but it is two to four times
more common in athletes than in
non-athletes and occurs more
frequently in males. When these sudden
deaths occur, it is often during physical
activity, such as playing sport, and is
often due to undiscovered heart defects
or overlooked heart abnormalities.
Screening can therefore also be used to
look for a number of these inherited
cardiac conditions.
High-profile cases where athletes
have suffered cardiac arrests, such as
Bolton and England Under 21 year old
footballer Fabrice Muamba in 2012, and
Wales Rugby League player Danny
Jones in 2015, have led to calls for all
athletes to be screened regularly for
heart anomalies that could trigger a
cardiac arrest.
The English Football Association
carries out approximately 1400
screenings each season across England
and Wales, but only for professional
clubs and national call-ups. In 1982, Italy
introduced mandatory screening for
all young athletes taking part in any
organised sport. A 25-year-long study of
the programme showed an 89% drop in
sudden cardiac deaths in athletes from
3.6 per 100,000 to 0.4 per 100,000.
The European Society of Cardiology
recommends that all children over
12 years old and all adults undertaking
competitive sport should undergo
sports cardiology screening every two
years. Competitive sport is defined as
any sport that involves competition
or regular training.
In addition, the American Heart
Association recommends that both
male athletes over 40 years old and
female ones over 50 years old (or after

Dr Rohan
Jagathesan is
a consultant
cardiologist
who works
in Essex and
Hertfordshire.
Dr Jagathesan
completed his
undergraduate and postgraduate
education in London and is accredited
in all aspects of general cardiology.
He has a specific interest in coronary
artery disease and coronary
intervention. He performs all standard
cardiac procedures and specialises in
permanent pacemaker implantation,
radial access coronary stenting and
transcatheter aortic valve implantation.
Dr Jagathesan is the divisional
lead cardiologist at the Essex
Cardiothoracic Centre in Basildon,
as well as the Essex cardiac lead
for the East of England Strategic
Clinical Network.

the menopause if they have it earlier)
who undertake vigorous exercise should
be assessed for coronary artery disease.

The great divide

There is a reasonable case to undertake
cardiac screening in a number of
different groups of people, but there
is a stark divide in the likely cause:
sudden cardiac death in the under-35s
is likely to be caused by genetic factors,
whereas in the over-35s it is almost
exclusively the result of degenerative
coronary artery disease, influenced by
age or lifestyle choices.
Few of us will have ideal risk levels
on all screening tests. However, test
results that are less than ideal do
not automatically mean that serious
cardiovascular disease is inevitable.
On the contrary, it provides valuable
knowledge so that positive health
changes can be made. 
If you are at all worried about
the current state of your heart, or are
interested in finding out about your
future cardiac risk, please contact
Dr Jagathesan for an immediate
consultation, using the details below.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Call 07740 942 414
Visit drrohanjagathesan.co.uk
Email info@drrohanjagathesan.co.uk
http://www.drrohanjagathesan.co.uk/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of At Home with Chris Jessen 2018
