June 27, 2008–Just one in 10 U.S. student-athletes who suffer sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survives, a new study found.

SCA is the leading cause of death in young athletes and the leading overall cause of death in the United States. Approximately one SCA case occurs every three days in organized youth sports, according to background information with the study.

“Overall, there is pretty poor survival from sudden cardiac arrest in young people,” said study co-author Dr. Kimberly G. Harmon, of the University of Washington Department of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.

But, there is a trend toward improved survival, Harmon said. “This is probably due to improved access to external automatic defibrillators (AEDs),” she said. “As we study this over the next several years, we are going to find that survival will improve as emergency plans and AEDs become more available and used.”