{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T17:32:21Z","timestamp":1786383141567,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"BMJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786320000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Medical Research Council fellowship","award":["MR\/W025167\/2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MR\/W025167\/2"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Br J Sports Med"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,22]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To investigate the results of cardiac screening, prevalence of cardiac diseases and subsequent health outcomes among elite female football players in the UK.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Between 2000 and 2024, 3121 elite female football players underwent the English Football Association (FA) cardiac screening programme, comprising a health questionnaire, 12-lead ECG and echocardiogram. The FA registry was interrogated for screening findings, subsequent testing, diagnosis and cardiac morbidity or mortality, including sudden cardiac arrest and death (SCA\/SCD). Sex-based comparisons were performed in 2680 females screened between 2017 and 2024, matched 1:2 by age, ethnicity and screening period to 5360 male players screened through the same programme.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Female athletes were 19.8\u00b15.4 years old, and the majority (87%) were White. Among 3121 female football players, 193 (6.2%) had an abnormal screening result requiring further evaluation; positive health questionnaires were present in 321 (10.3%), of which two (0.6%) athletes were true-positive for major cardiac conditions. Abnormal ECGs were present in 77 (2.5%), of which four (5.2%) were true positives. Major cardiac conditions were diagnosed in six (0.2%), including four with long QT syndrome, one with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and one with bicuspid aortic valve with moderate to severe aortic regurgitation. No female had cardiomyopathy diagnosed at baseline; however, one (0.03%) was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy 18 months later. During 19\u2009193 person-years of follow-up, no female experienced SCA\/SCD. In matched analysis, major cardiac conditions were diagnosed in five females (0.2%) and 29 males (0.5%; p=0.027), with higher estimated screening expenditure per major diagnosis in females (\u00a3146 809 vs \u00a351 888).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Cardiovascular screening in elite female football players identified a low prevalence of major cardiac conditions, predominantly electrical disorders, with no cardiomyopathy diagnosed at baseline and no SCA\/SCD during follow-up. As female participation in elite sport continues to grow, these findings support the need for sex-appropriate interpretation and adequate budgeting for pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2025-111459","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T17:20:26Z","timestamp":1786382426000},"page":"bjsports-2025-111459","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Outcomes of cardiovascular screening in professional female football players"],"prefix":"10.1136","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4124-6421","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kentaro","family":"Yamagata","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Institute of Sport, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, 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