Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health The University of Sydney NSW Australia.
St Vincent's Institute for Medical Research Melbourne Victoria Australia.
J Am Heart Assoc. 2024 Aug 20;13(16):e035898. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.124.035898. Epub 2024 Aug 19.
Cardiac screening of elite athletes is widely recommended by Australasian sporting federations, but data are not structured to be shared. Data are lacking from underrepresented groups to inform ECG interpretation guidelines. The ARENA (Australasian Registry of Screening ECGs in National Athletes) project is a retrospective and prospective, multicenter, longitudinal, observational registry of athlete cardiac screening results and outcomes. The aim is to create a repository to improve our understanding of the diagnoses and outcomes of screening.
Participating sports that conduct cardiac screening of athletes will contribute data. This includes an initial collection (retrospective data, waiver of consent) and future prospective data (opt-out consent). Data include sex, age, sport/event, screening date, ECG findings, cardiac test results, follow-up details, sport participation status, cardiac diagnoses, and major cardiovascular outcomes defined as sudden cardiac arrest/death, cardiac syncope or implanted cardioverter defibrillator shock, cardiac hospitalization, and arrhythmias requiring intervention. Comparisons will be made between diagnoses, outcomes, and ECG features and analyzed by sport and sex. The ARENA project was developed in collaboration with sporting bodies, team physicians, and players association representatives and endorsed by the Australasian College of Sport & Exercise Physicians and Sports Medicine Australia.
The ARENA project will provide a long-term international data repository to improve our understanding of ECG interpretation, cardiac screening and diagnoses, and the prevalence of cardiovascular outcomes in screened athletes. A unique aim is to address evidence gaps in underrepresented athlete groups, specifically female athletes and Indigenous populations. Results will inform screening policies and guidelines.
澳大利亚和亚洲地区的体育联合会广泛推荐对精英运动员进行心脏筛查，但目前的数据结构尚无法共享。代表性不足的群体缺乏数据，无法为心电图解读指南提供信息。ARENA（澳大利亚全国运动员筛查心电图登记处）项目是一个回顾性和前瞻性的、多中心的、纵向的、观察性的运动员心脏筛查结果和结局登记处。其目的是创建一个存储库，以增进我们对筛查诊断和结果的了解。
进行运动员心脏筛查的参与运动项目将提供数据。这包括初始采集（回顾性数据，豁免同意）和未来的前瞻性数据（选择退出同意）。数据包括性别、年龄、运动/赛事、筛查日期、心电图结果、心脏检查结果、随访详细信息、运动参与状态、心脏诊断以及主要心血管结局，定义为心脏骤停/死亡、心源性晕厥或植入式心脏复律除颤器电击、心脏住院和需要干预的心律失常。将按运动和性别对诊断、结局和心电图特征进行比较。ARENA 项目是与体育机构、团队医生和运动员协会代表合作开发的，并得到澳大利亚运动与锻炼医学院和澳大利亚运动医学协会的认可。
ARENA 项目将提供一个长期的国际数据存储库，以增进我们对心电图解读、心脏筛查和诊断以及筛查运动员中心血管结局的流行程度的理解。一个独特的目标是解决代表性不足的运动员群体（特别是女性运动员和原住民群体）中的证据差距。研究结果将为筛查政策和指南提供信息。
