Abstract des Autors

The success of systematic early age talent development has led to the professionalisation of youth sports academies used by clubs and governing bodies alike, and sports physicians are nowadays commonly confronted with paediatric cardiological problems. This has led to calls from the International Olympic Committee, amongst others, for more diligence to safeguard the psycho-physiological development of the paediatric athlete. Medical cardiac care of the paediatric athlete however is in its infancy and international guidelines, present for many common adult sports cardiology scenarios, are not available yet. The aim of this chapter is to provide a practical approach to the cardiac care of the paediatric athlete to facilitate healthy and above all, safe talent development, but also provide guidance on how to distinguish adaptive, beneficial cardiovascular remodelling from underlying pathology of congenital or inherited cardiovascular disease, including cardiomyopathies and arrhythmias. Differences in presentation, diagnosis and treatment between childhood and adult athletes are highlighted and can educate the reader in the emerging field of paediatric sports cardiology.