udden cardiac death in athletes and genetic testing for the channelopathies

Abstract

Sudden deaths in athletes occur occasionally and it is known that a percentage of these events it’s by the sudden cardiac death (MSC), some of them by channelopathies diseases that often have silent demonstration and are rarely found. This systematic review aims to analyze the relevance of adopting molecular tests for the early diagnosis of these channelopathies in order to decrease the incidence of MSC in elite athletes. To analyze the question proposed, bibliographical survey in Pubmed database using keywords channelopathies, sudden cardiac death and athlete’s heart syndrome were done, being rescued 35 articles. Of these, 18 articles were systematic reviews, one prospective study and one cutting study and, in the end, twenty articles were selected. According to the results, it was noticed that channelopathies are  genetic disorders that can be hereditary and family history should always be prized during the anamnesis. In addition, approximately 3.6% of sudden deaths are caused by channelopathies in athletes. Genetic testing for the main channelopathies however, not shown effectiveness in preventing sudden cardiac death by high cost, low availability, low negative predictive value (<40%) and few  prospective studies well delineated with a statistically significant population.