**1. Introduction**

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is defined as any death secondary to a cardiac cause within minutes to 24 h of the exercise activity [1–3]. The SCD may be associated with a rhythm disturbance or circulatory collapse. The prevalence of SCD in children is approximately 600 per annum in the USA [3]. By contrast, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) occurs in 7000–10,000 infants per year, and SCD in adults is seen in 300,000–400,000 subjects per year [3]. Consequently, the prevalence of SCD in childhood (and young adult) athletes is a lot less frequent than SIDS in babies and SCD in adults. The objectives of this presentation are to list the most frequent cardiac causes of sudden death in athletes, describe clinical features of more common cardiac disease entities causing SCD, and discuss methods of pre-sports participation screening. The discussion will not include SIDS and SCD without an antecedent exercise activity.
