Usefulness and cost effectiveness of cardiovascular screening of young adolescents.

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the usefulness of a screening system for cardiovascular disease in Kagoshima, Japan, and to compare its cost-effectiveness with that of a similar system reported in the United States.

Background: Preparticipation screening of young athletes has been implemented in many countries to prevent sudden death, but sudden death in young nonathletes remains a problem. In Japan, both athletes and nonathletes have been screened for the presence or absence of cardiovascular diseases for more than 20 yr.

Prevalence and time of appearance of Brugada electrocardiographic pattern in young male adolescents from a three-year follow-up study.

The prevalence of Brugada's electrocardiographic (ECG) pattern in 7,022 male adolescents in the seventh grade was determined, and the same subjects were reexamined 3 years later, while in tenth grade. Two subjects (0.03%) and 7 subjects (0.