The cardiovascular pre-participation screening proposal for young competitive 
athletes has the potential to save young lives. This study aimed to identify 
individuals at risk for potentially lethal cardiovascular diseases in athletes 
before competition. Between June 2005 and July 2005, 351 (170 male and 181 
female) elite Chinese athletes from 21 sports were profiled. The 12-lead 
electrocardiogram and echocardiography were employed to evaluate cardiovascular 
diseases. The vast majority had no definitive evidence of cardiovascular 
disease. However, abnormal ECGs were identified in 16 athletes (4.5%), including 
4 with distinctly abnormal and 12 with mildly abnormal patterns. Only 13 
athletes (3.7%) had echocardiographic evidence of relatively mild valve 
regurgitation that had not been previously suspected. In three athletes with 
relatively mild ventricular septal hypertrophy (13-14 mm), it was not possible 
to discern with absolute certainty whether the wall thickening was a 
manifestation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or secondary to athletic 
conditioning ("athlete heart"). This screening protocol identified no athletes 
with definite evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Marfan's syndrome or 
other cardiovascular diseases that convey a significant potential risk for 
sudden death or disease progression during athletic activity. This is largely 
due to the relative low prevalence of conditions resulting in sudden cardiac 
death in young athletes and high false positive/negative rates in the tests used 
as part of the screening process (due to a large overlap between cardiovascular 
changes due to pathology and those due to intense training).