
This morning, an article appeared in the Chicago Tribune that "revisits" Sudden Cardiac Arrest. It is written by a local cardiologist, Dr. Joseph Marek, who advocates for EKG screening of athletes without discussing its downside and the fact that such a recommendation falls outside of our professional associations’ guidelines on this issue.
While the intent of Dr. Marek’s efforts are probably in the right place, we should all realize that testing (of any kind) that occurs on large segments of the population who are at relatively low risk for an ailment leads to a considerable incidence of false positive tests (in other words, abnormal findings that are ultimately found to be benign). The cost and anxiety of the evaluation of these tests (consults, echocardiograms, even invasive angiograms) during such an evaluation can be considerable and might lead to real complications of their own.
-Wes