Athletes' Heart Problems can be Tricky to Diagnose

By Sean Jensen, Chicago Sun-Times

Athletes' hearts are bigger, thicker, but tests can show who's high-risk.

Two renowned heart specialists warned about jumping to conclusions after the death of Bears defensive end Gaines Adams and lamented the cruel statistics surrounding sudden cardiac death.

''It's tragic. But shocking? It's not infrequent that the first manifestation is sudden death, and that's the tragedy -- that at times we never had a chance to diagnose it,'' said Dr. John Beshai, an expert in cardiac electrophysiology at the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Blackhawks' cardiologist.

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