Dramatic electrocardiographic changes in a junior athlete with unpredictable hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is one of the commonest causes of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. Over the last years, the Italian preparticipation screening programme strongly contributed to discriminate athletes showing borderline (grey-area) left ventricular hypertrophy or fulfilling precise diagnostic criteria for HCM, thanks to the framework of testing performed yearly before competitions. We present the case of a junior athlete in whom dramatic ECG changes suggestive for HCM became manifest during the last year training activity.