The sudden death of Wakefield Wildcats rugby player Adam Watene at the age of only 31, after a training session, has highlighted the rare but shocking occurence of sports-related deaths.

We don't know the cause of Adam's death, but press reports say his father died recently of a heart attack, and heart problems are one of the commonest causes of sudden death during sport. For evidence based information on this topic, see these recent BMJ articles on cardiovascular screening before competitive sports - a clinical review and a cross sectional study.

"Preparticipation screening for cardiovascular abnormalities in young competitive athletes"
Michael Papadakis, Greg Whyte, Sanjay Sharma
BMJ 2008;337:a1596 doi:10.1136/bmj.a1596
Click here to view the first 150 words online

"Cardiovascular evaluation, including resting and exercise electrocardiography, before participation in competitive sports: cross sectional study"
Francesco Sofi, Andrea Capalbo, Nicola Pucci, Jacopo Giuliattini, Francesca Condino, Flavio Alessandri, Rosanna Abbate, Gian Franco Gensini, Sergio Califano
BMJ 2008;337:a346 doi:10.1136/bmj.a346
Click here to view the abstract online

British Medical Journal
bmj