A screening programme has been launched to test young amateur athletes for the condition that killed footballer Phil O'Donnell. People participating in sports can be at higher risk of SCD because if they suffer from pre-existing cardiovascular conditions these can be made worse when undertaking physical activity.

The Cardiac Assessment in Young Athletes programme will use ECG and ultrasound screening to identify whether the athletes being tested are at increased risk of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD). The two-year pilot is a joint initiative between the Scottish Government, the Scottish Football Association and the University of Glasgow. The £200,000 programme will be based at the Sports Medicine Centre at Hampden Park in Glasgow, and it will offer cardiovascular screening on a voluntary basis to young Scots over the age of 16 who take part in any organised amateur sports. Up to 4,000 people a year - young amateurs and some professional footballers - will undergo cardiovascular screening.

Under the scheme athletes will first fill in a questionnaire detailing any known family heart conditions, before having an ECG test to pick up any abnormality and ultrasound procedure to detect any problem with the structure of the heart. The pilot programme will use a combination of questionnaires, and testing to identify those at risk of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), the condition which claimed the life of Mr O'Donnell. The evidence gathered from the pilot programme will be used in making decisions about future national screening programmes across the UK.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon, launching the programme at Hampden Park in Glasgow, said the condition claimed some 70 lives a year in Scotland. She said:  "Thankfully it is a rare condition but it does rob us of too many seemingly young people every year. This programme makes us only the third country in the world to have this type of screening."

Ms Sturgeon added: "Many professional athletes can be screened by their sporting bodies - indeed, professional footballers in the SPL already have checks every year. But until now there has been no opportunity for young Scots who participate in organised amateur sports to have access to appropriate testing."

Gordon Smith, chief executive of the SFA added: "This is one condition that actually sports people are more at risk from so therefore if you are in sport, you should be tested to find out whether you are totally free. If you have found that you have got it then you have a decision to make as to whether you continue with your sport but you are much better being given the information and making that decision than continuing without any knowledge of it."

The programme will be open to youngsters involved in organised amateur sport, whose GP can refer them for testing. It will also be available to the Scottish Football Association, which is a partner in the scheme along with the Scottish Government and the University of Glasgow.

Newslinks:

http://www.stv.tv/news/Heart_screening_programme_for_young_ama_080813114503795

http://www.guideandgazette.co.uk/latest-scottish-news/Heart-screening-scheme-for-athletes.4383806.jp