The untimely death of a young person due to an underlying cardiac disorder results in a significant loss of potential years of life and profoundly impacts their family and community. Efforts to identify at-risk young individuals have predominantly centred on elite athletes. The electrocardiogram (ECG) has emerged as an effective tool for detecting serious cardiac conditions, and recent advancements in interpretation criteria have substantially decreased false-positive results while maintaining both sensitivity and specificity.
Recent data from the charitable organisation Cardiac Risk in the Young suggest that the prevalence of cardiac deaths in the general young population is similar. However, implementing a large-scale screening programme for all young individuals in the UK faces several challenges, primarily due to the absence of existing infrastructure.
Potential solutions could include self-funded screenings through online health questionnaires and AI-based 12-lead ECG interpretation, as well as school-based screening initiatives and educational courses for interested primary care physicians to support local screenings with programmed ECG devices. Furthermore, establishing a national registry to monitor screening outcomes, referrals, and longitudinal health data would provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of such programmes.
Professor Sanjay Sharma is a Professor of Cardiology at St George’s, University of London, and St George’s NHS Foundation Trust, and a Consultant Cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic London. His interests include heart muscle disease, sudden cardiac death in the young, and sports cardiology, for which he has an international reputation. He is one of the most prolific cardiologists in the world in his field of research and has over 380 publications on PubMed (Google Scholar h-index 102). He is the lead author of the international recommendations for ECG interpretation in athletes and co-chaired the 2020 European Society of Cardiology Guidelines in Sports Cardiology.
Professor Sharma leads a large tertiary inherited cardiac diseases programme serving southeast England. He is the Director of the largest sports cardiology unit in the UK, responsible for athletes with potentially serious cardiac diseases from the English Football Association, Rugby League, Lawn Tennis Association, and the English Institute of Sport. He serves as the Cardiology Advisor and Chairman of the Expert Cardiac Committee for the Football Association.
He is the Medical Director of London Marathon Events and has been commended for providing one of the world’s best medical services for endurance events. He was awarded membership of the Venerable Order of St John for his services to St John Ambulance in supporting the medical welfare of runners. Professor Sharma was the lead cardiologist for the 2012 London Olympics and provided medical services for all endurance sports.
