Young athletes in Europe should be screened before competing in events to detect heart problems and reduce sport-related deaths, health experts said.

A European Society of Cardiology report recommends a physical examination, a complete medical history and an electrocardiogram (ECG), which provides an electrical recording of the heart.

The report, which is published in the European Heart Journal, estimates that an ECG could cut heart deaths linked to competitive sports in Europe by an estimated 50-70 percent.

"We know very little about the risk of sudden death associated with exercise in young competitors, so the benefits versus the hazards of sports activity pose a clinical dilemma," said Dr Domenico Corrado, of the University of Padua, in Italy.

Athletes train to be in top form but Corrado said an Italian study revealed that adolescents and young adults involved in competitive sports have a 2.5 times higher risk of sudden death.

In Italy, sports-related sudden cardiac death occurs in approximately 2 per 100,000 athletes per year. Estimates for other European countries are not available.

"The young competitors who died suddenly were affected by silent cardiovascular diseases," he said in a statement.

Italy and the United States have screening tests for athletes but an ECG is done at the doctor's discretion in the United States.

Corrado defended the importance of an ECG, saying it shows abnormal results in up to 95 percent of patients with a condition called hypertropic cardiomyopathy (HCM), in which the muscle of the heart is abnormal because of an unknown reason.

HCM is a leading cause of sudden death in an athlete.

The report suggests screening should begin between the ages of 12-14 and be repeated every 2 years. If someone shows signs of a problem they should be referred to a specialist, it says.

"It is ethically and clinically justifiable to make every effort to recognize in good time the diseases that put these athletes at risk, and to reduce fatalities," Corrado said.