[Sudden death in young athletes].

Sudden cardiac death in a young athlete is a tragic and marking event, even though the media attention it gets is more important than its incidence (1-2/100000 per year). The main etiology is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, followed by coronary artery anomalies. Sometimes signs of myocarditis are found at autopsy. The pre-participation examination recommandations ask for oriented history and physical examination, routine EKG being controversial. A systematic screening program in Italy has reduced the occurrence of such deaths, which statistics are non-existant in Switzerland. It would be appropriate to implement a standardized pre-participation examination, as well as to make sure that the trainers, teachers and athletes themselves are able to recognize the frequent warning symptoms.