CLINICAL SECTION   

Medicina dello Sport 2005 September;58(3):225-31

Copyright © 2005 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Unfitness causes on 11772 athletes. Follow-up and revision of an epidemiological research carried out in a Center of Sports Medicine

Amadio E., Miani L.

Centro di Medicina dello Sport - Regione Marche, Azienda Sanitaria Unica Regionale, Zona Territoriale n. 5, Jesi (Ancona)

We have retrospectively examined the clinical files of the athletes that were kept under observation at the Center of Sports Medicine of “USL 10” (currently “Azienda Sanitaria 5”) of Jesi during a 20 years period (March 1983-December 2002) to link the causes of unfitness, especially the cardiovascular ones. The aim of the study is to analyse the causes of unfitness, in respect to the criteria of fitness related to the cardiovascular apparatus (that changed in the three periods), making the case histories homogeneous. We have examined the total of 11772 athletes. The unfitness causes have been divided in to groups, according to the apparatus seat of the anomaly, to the sports played and to the age. Furthermore we have analysed the cardiovascular causes of unfitness, that have been divided in three periods (according to the criteria of fitness used for cardiovascular apparatus): 1983-1989, 1990-1995, 1996-2002. In the three periods we have noticed the decrease of the prevalence of the subjects unfit to competition and the considerable prevalence of the cases of unfitness due to cardiovascular diseases: in particular, in the all three periods, the hyperkinetic arrhythmias are at the first place; the second cardiovascular cause is the hypertension (from 1983 to 1989), the myocardiopathies (from 1990 to 1995) and the valvular cardiopathies (fron 1996 to 2002). In the our three previous studies we haven’t considered the difference between the heart criteria of fitness, because the periods were superimposed so the statistics were not homogeneus regarding to the criteria. Moreover the percentage of the athletes unfit to competition were referred to the total of the same ones, now on the contrary we have referred it to the total of the examinations, because the heart situation and the related decision can change in the same athlete for many reasons.