TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2002//
TI  - Causes of sudden death during sports activities in Spain
JO  - Revista Espanola de Cardiologia
A1  - Suárez-Mier, M. Paz
A1  - Aguilera, Beatriz
SP  - 347
EP  - 358
VL  - 55
IS  - 4
N2  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Sudden death during sports activities has a profound impact on relatives, society, and athletes. Medical screening programs usually fail to prevent sudden death. We report the characteristics of a series of sudden deaths that occurred during sports in Spain. <br><br>METHODS: We reviewed cases of sudden death that occurred during sports activities from 1995 to 2001 in the registries of the Institute of Toxicology of Madrid, Spain (Ministry of Justice). <br><br>RESULTS: The series included 61 cases ranging in age from 11 to 65 years (average 31.9 14.2), 59 males and 2 females. The sports most frequently involved were cycling (21), football [soccer] (13), and gymnastics (5). The causes of death were atheromatous coronary disease: 25 (40.9%) (23 over 30 years); arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: 10 (16.3%) (7 under 30 years); hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: 4 (6.5%); idiopathic left ventricular hypertrophy: 3 (4.9%); postmyocarditis myocardial fibrosis: 2 (3.2%); dilated cardiomyopathy: 1 (1.6%); congenital anomalies in the origin of the coronary arteries: 2 (3.2%); aortic valve disease: 2 (3.2%); and others: 2 (3.2%). In 10 cases (16.3%) (all under 30), the cause of death was undetermined. In 16 cases (26.2%) there was a known pathological antecedent. The disease responsible for death had been diagnosed in only three cases. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy and severe left ventricular hypertrophy were the most common causes of sports-related death in persons under the age of 30. In 30% the cause of death was undetermined. Atheromatous coronary disease was prevalent over the age of 30 years and associated with cycling. Medical screening programs actually in use fail to detect a significant proportion of athletes at risk for sudden death.<p />  <p>Language: es</p>
LA  - es
SN  - 0300-8932
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -