Key result
Recreational football players over 35 years of age with coronary artery disease face a higher risk of sudden cardiac death, though the true incidence remains unknown due to a lack of studies.
This review highlights the need for sport-specific registries to better understand the incidence and mechanisms of sudden cardiac death in football players, particularly those with underlying coronary artery disease.
Requires prospective registries in recreational football; leaves open SCD incidence in players over 35 with CAD.
Football is the most popular sport worldwide and includes the largest population of sports participants, especially in the field of recreational sport. It remains controversial whether football represents a sport discipline with a particular high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). The true incidence of SCD among football players is not known due to a lack of football-specific studies. In particular, recreational football players over an age of 35 years with a predominance of coronary artery disease (CAD) who do not exercise regularly are exposed to a higher risk of SCD. Surprisingly, the few European studies that included football as a sport discipline, showed that CAD already plays an important role in the young athlete. Potential pathophysiological mechanisms in football that may lead to a higher risk of SCD include the high release of catecholamines, increased platelet aggregation, dehydration and electrolyte disturbances. Establishment of sport-specific and national registers for SCD should certainly contribute to a better understanding of this highly important topic.
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Bohm et al. (2013) conducted a review in Sudden cardiac death. Recreational football players over 35 years of age with coronary artery disease face a higher risk of sudden cardiac death, though the true incidence remains unknown due to a lack of studies.
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