The issue of sudden death in the young, and especially the athlete, is still recurrently upsetting society at large, while lacking a prospective and thoughtful evaluation/study in the medical world, and consequently lacking agreed and effective guidelines aimed at promoting effective and affordable preventive treatment. Many conditions in the cardiovascular system are clearly accompanied by high risk of sudden cardiac death and they are treatable either by intervention or by abstaining from sporting activities, if recognized.



The MEO Study will pursue a prospective collection of clinical data on the specific circumstances of sudden cardiac death in the young (as compared to the older or younger populations) and of necropsy findings related to coronary anomalies and cardiomyopathies. These are generally congenital defects in the vessels that nourish the heart or in the structure itself. The study will be carried out in collaboration with the Harris County Forensic Center, and will deal with death occurring in the general population of Houston, TX. The study will finally quantify the increased risk implicit in such conditions in real life. Moreover, the study will be the first of its kind and will be published in medical literature worldwide.