Health experts have recommended that a Europe-wide heart-screening programme should be introduced to prevent sudden deaths among young athletes in competitive sports. 

Yesterday, a report by the European Society of Cardiology called for the screening of athletes to reduce the number of sport-related deaths caused by heart attacks. 

Robin Johnson looks at whether such checks should be introduced in the UK. 

Watching a group of youngsters tearing around a football pitch, you would think they were the last people in the world likely to suffer with heart problems. 

But outward appearances can be deceptive.  Health experts believe it is possible that some children and young people who outwardly seem fit, may have undetected heart defects that could lead to fatal cardiac arrests brought on by sport. 

Mercifully, such instances of this actually happening are rare, but doctors working in international heart and sports medicine are calling for all youngsters who take part in competitive sport to undergo a heart-screening programme. 

Yesterday, a report published by the European Society of Cardiology said screening could pick up potentially life-threatening problems. 

It believes screening athletes using an electrocardiogram (ECG) could cut sports-related cardiac deaths in Europe by up to 70 per cent. 

An ECG is used to measure the electrical activity of the heart and can pick up problems which would otherwise present no symptoms. 

As well as the screening, the society has recommended that every young athlete involved in organised sport should have a rigorous physical examination and a detailed investigation of their personal and family medical history. 

There are no estimates on the number of sports-related sudden cardiac deaths in Europe, apart from in Italy, which has operated a screening programme for athletes for 25 years, involving nearly six million young people a year. 

Its figures show that the number of people affected is typically two out of every 100,000. 

In the UK, a number of high-profile cases have brought the issue to the fore. 

Victims include Marc-Vivien Foe, the Premiership footballer and Cameroon international, who died aged 28 when he collapsed during a match in 2003. 

Former Wales manager Terry Yorath lost his son, Daniel, in the same way at the age of 15. 

For a parent to suddenly lose a child in the prime of their life is an awful thing to bear.  

Mick and Janet Sanders, of Melbourne, had to endure that very experience when they lost their 17-year-old on, Matthew, in 1999. 

Matthew, who attended Chellaston School, loved sport and what spare time he had was invariably spent doing physical activity, but then tragedy came out of the blue. 

A keen footballer, he had just completed a trial for Burton Albion’s youth team and was jogging around the pitch when he collapsed.  A post mortem examination revealed that he had died of a heart condition. 

“Based on our own experiences, we would support any medical testing of youngsters to detect whether they had a heart condition,” said Mick. 

“However, there are a multitude of different conditions and it all depends on whether the checks are thorough enough.”

Alison Cox, chief executive of the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, said she also backed the proposals 100 per cent. 

“That is what we’ve always asked for,” she said.  “But testing the elite athletes is probably the first practical application in the UK.”

Programmes to screen elite athletes do already exist in some sports in the UK. 

All elite tennis players undergo heart checks, and the Olympic Medical Association also carries out checks on people who display warning symptoms, such as fainting regularly.  The Football Association also carries out regular health checks on players. 

At Derby County, the health of young players is a priority and rigorous checks are being carried out to ensure their continued health and well-being. 

“As part of the academy Premier League regulations, every player aged between nine years old and 19 years old is screened each year” said Terry Westley, manager of Derby County’s youth academy at Moor Farm, Spondon. 

When they leave school at 16, the screening forms part of a full and complete medical, which again is carried out yearly.” 

Terry said the measures were brought in about four years ago as part of the academy education and welfare programme. 

He would like to see the measures taken by the academy carried out in amateur sport, but said that the logistics of it would need to be well thought through. 

“I would love to see screening brought in for people who play amateur football,” said Terry.  “The only problem I could see is, who would pick up the cost of it?

"There would have to be a big consultation carried out to make them aware of what can happen because, when you see these youngsters playing football, they are the last people in the world you would think would have problems with their heart.” 

The society has recommended that the screening process should start at around the age of 12 to 14 and be repeated every two years. 

Adrian Heaton (48), of Littleover, coaches youngsters at Mickleover Sports Football Club and Mickleover Cricket Club.  He believes that screenings for youngsters will not only give parents peace of mind, but also the coaches. 

"It would certainly help us to know whether the youngster had any health problems if any incident was to occur,” said Adrian, whose three sons, Ross (14) and twins Craig and Ian (10), all play football and cricket. 

“This is not just about heart complaints, but any sort of ailment – the child may suffer from asthma, for example.  To have this knowledge would really help us if there was a sudden emergency. 

“Serious incidents are very rare, but you cannot be complacent because you never know when they might happen. 

“So to be on the safe side, it’s a very good idea to get children checked before they take part.” 

The society also recommends that those who tested positive for potential heart problems should have more extensive tests and, if the problem is confirmed, should be banned from competition and training. 

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: “To identify these rare cases you’d have to screen a large number of individuals at great cost. 

“We’re concerned that many of the rare abnormal ECG readings would not be simple to interpret and we’d be unable to predict the effect on a person’s heart health. 

“Such results may not mean sudden death but may well stop a promising athletic career.”

“Sudden death in athletes is rare but it happens and is usually due to undiagnosed cardiac disease,” said Dr Alastair McCance, consultant in cardiothoracic measurement at Derby Hospitals NHS Trust. 

“Some of this could be diagnosed by a history, examination and an ECG.  In elite athletes this would seem worthwhile, but to extend it to all people involved in competitive sport would certainly be a significant effort. 

“It could perhaps be done in the context of the school medical and immunisation programme.”