Is ECG the Right Choice?

Most sports associations and countries require that their athletes have some form of medical evaluation before participating competitive sport. In a in a general screen none of those are very good tools to identify people at risk since most people don't have symptoms or the family history an exam is typically normal. An ECG can detect about two thirds of the conditions that might put a young athlete at risk of sudden death so it's not perfect but it's quite a bit better than a history of physical. One tool that has emerged in looking for coronary artery disease is a coronary artery calcium score which measures calcium within the atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary artery.