Sudden cardiac deaths in sports: global statistics analysis
ˑ:
Dr. Med., Professor E.A. Gavrilova1
Dr. Hab., Professor O.A. Churganov1
PhD M.D. Belodedova2
PhD Y.V. Yakovlev3
PhD M.A. Rogozhnikov4
1North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, Ministry of Health of Russia, St. Petersburg
2Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University, St. Petersburg
3S.M. Budyonny Military Academy of Telecommunications, St. Petersburg
4V.B. Bobkov Saint-Petersburg Branch of the Russian Customs Academy, St. Petersburg
Objective of the study was to analyze the global situation with sudden cardiac deaths in sports.
Methods and structure of the study. We analyzed on a systemic basis study reports on the subject by the relevant keywords including sports, sudden cardiac death, athletes etc. in Elibrary.ru and Pubmed databases.
Results and discussion. Prospective studies have found that in Italy, US and France the sudden cardiac deaths in sports are 2.5, 3.65 and 4.5 times higher than in the unsporting populations, respectively. As reported by Bohm Ph. et al., the sudden cardiac death risk exposure for men is 20 times higher than for women. The British Sports Sudden Cardiac Death Register reports 357 sudden cardiac death cases in the national sports, with the victims aged 29±11 years (27 years on average) and 92% male.
Studies have proven that the male sex hormones provoke cardiac hypertrophy with QT interval growth, potential electrical instability of the myocardium and ventricular arrhythmias. K.G. Harmon reported the research data on the sudden cardiac death incidence growth in sports with the sporting and competitive records. Researchers tend to believe that sudden cardiac death may be due to multifactor health conditions, disorders and cardiovascular diseases, plus some hereditary issues including structural genetic heart diseases and cardiac arrhythmias.
The sudden cardiac death exposure is reported most high for male athletes, particularly for the black football and basketball players, and for the endurance-intensive sports in general. Every third sudden cardiac death case in sports for the last few years was reported for athletes with structurally normal hearts, with the actual causes need to be analyzed on a sound research basis; although at this juncture some researchers tend to blame heart overstrains in excessive trainings as the main cause of autopsy-negative deaths.
Methods and structure of the study. We analyzed on a systemic basis study reports on the subject by the relevant keywords including sports, sudden cardiac death, athletes etc. in Elibrary.ru and Pubmed databases.
Results and discussion. Prospective studies have found that in Italy, US and France the sudden cardiac deaths in sports are 2.5, 3.65 and 4.5 times higher than in the unsporting populations, respectively. As reported by Bohm Ph. et al., the sudden cardiac death risk exposure for men is 20 times higher than for women. The British Sports Sudden Cardiac Death Register reports 357 sudden cardiac death cases in the national sports, with the victims aged 29±11 years (27 years on average) and 92% male.
Studies have proven that the male sex hormones provoke cardiac hypertrophy with QT interval growth, potential electrical instability of the myocardium and ventricular arrhythmias. K.G. Harmon reported the research data on the sudden cardiac death incidence growth in sports with the sporting and competitive records. Researchers tend to believe that sudden cardiac death may be due to multifactor health conditions, disorders and cardiovascular diseases, plus some hereditary issues including structural genetic heart diseases and cardiac arrhythmias.
The sudden cardiac death exposure is reported most high for male athletes, particularly for the black football and basketball players, and for the endurance-intensive sports in general. Every third sudden cardiac death case in sports for the last few years was reported for athletes with structurally normal hearts, with the actual causes need to be analyzed on a sound research basis; although at this juncture some researchers tend to blame heart overstrains in excessive trainings as the main cause of autopsy-negative deaths.
Keywords: sports, sudden cardiac death, athletes.
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