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In a continued effort to help physicians more accurately interpret ECG results to improve cardiac safety in athletes and impact sudden cardiac death, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Center (FMARC) are bringing together top sports cardiology and sport medicine physicians from around the world for a second summit on ECG interpretation in athletes in Seattle on 26-27 February.

The Summit will focus on reaching agreement upon scientifically driven ECG interpretation standards, defining clear steps in the evaluation of ECG abnormalities and making updates to free online ECG learning modules that were designed as a result of the first ECG Summit. The 2012 Summit yielded four consensus papers and the launch of the educational modules available on the AMSSM and British Medical Journal learning site. To date, more than 13,000 modules have been completed by physicians from over 117 countries.

"The Seattle summit offers an educational package for all sports physicians looking after the health of athletes for free, said FIFAs Chief Medical Officer Professor Jiri Dvorak. FIFA is fully committed to take all measures necessary to reduce the risks of sudden cardiac death among footballers and athletes in general. The Seattle Summit translate the scientific evidence for the use of sport physicians and general practitioners dealing with athletes.

More than 30 of the worlds foremost authorities in sports cardiology and sports medicine will be part of the Summit, which is also being supported by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and includes representatives from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Sports & Exercise Council, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Sports Cardiology Section and the Pediatric & CongenitalElectrophysiology Society (PACES). The expert panel includes participants fromten countries Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Qatar, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Whether an ECG is performed for screening or diagnostic purposes, physicians responsible for the cardiovascular care of athletes must be guided by ECG interpretation standards that distinguish normal ECG findings in athletes from ECG abnormalities requiring additional evaluation for conditions associated with sudden cardiac death, said past AMSSM President Jonathan Drezner, MD, who is chair of the meeting. Ideally, these standards, combined with greater physician education, will improve disease detection and limit falsepositive results.

The 2012 meeting helped establish athletespecific ECG interpretation standards dubbed the Seattle Criteria. The 2015 Summit will update these standards based on new and emerging research to produce an international consensus to guide ECG interpretation in athletes. Dr. Drezner, who is also director of the UW Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology and a team physician for the University of Washington Huskies and Seattle Seahawks, added, We all want athletes to be safe during sports participation. The summit represents a true scientific collaboration and commitment from the sports medicine and cardiology communities to protect the cardiovascular health and safety in athletes.

The AMSSM is a multidisciplinary organization of sports medicine physicians whose members are dedicated to education, research, advocacy, and the care of athletes of all ages. Founded in 1991, the AMSSM is now comprised of more than 2,700 sports medicine physicians whose goal is to provide a link between the rapidly expanding core of knowledge related to sports medicine and its application to patients in a clinical setting.

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AMSSM and FIFA hold second summit on ECG interpretation in athletes