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Playing Basketball with a Cardiac Condition: Recommendations and Guidelines

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Basketball Sports Medicine and Science

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Abstract

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the leading cause of fatalities in competitive athletes during sports and exercise. SCD is caused by a variety of congenital and genetic cardiac conditions, including cardiomyopathies, channelopathies, anomalous coronary arteries, and aortic dissection. Epidemiologic evidence suggests that basketball athletes are at higher risk of SCD, supporting more intensive cardiovascular screening strategies. Athletes detected with a condition associated with SCD should be referred to sports cardiologists or disease experts for further evaluation and risk stratification. Sports eligibility decisions for athletes with cardiovascular conditions are complex and should be based on an individual risk assessment, the possibility of accelerating or worsening the disease course with continued intensive exercise, existing outcome data for sports safety, and the potential of medical interventions to mitigate risk. The present chapter reviews the epidemiology of SCD in athletes, athlete screening guidelines, and the current principles and knowledge pertaining to participation recommendations and management of athletes with known or suspected cardiovascular conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    David S. Owens

  2. Department of Family Medicine, Center for Sports Cardiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Jonathan A. Drezner

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  1. David S. Owens
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  2. Jonathan A. Drezner
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Correspondence to David S. Owens .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine Service, HYMC, Hadera, Israel

    Lior Laver

  2. Department of Orthopedics, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar (MAA) University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Baris Kocaoglu

  3. Midwest Orthopedics at Rush, Chicago, IL, USA

    Brian Cole

  4. The Brooklyn Nets, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Amelia J. H. Arundale

  5. Duke Sports Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Jeffrey Bytomski

  6. Duke Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Annunziato Amendola

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Owens, D.S., Drezner, J.A. (2020). Playing Basketball with a Cardiac Condition: Recommendations and Guidelines. In: Laver, L., Kocaoglu, B., Cole, B., Arundale, A.J.H., Bytomski, J., Amendola, A. (eds) Basketball Sports Medicine and Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61070-1_69

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61070-1_69

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