Death and Cardiac Arrest in U.S. Triathlon Participants

Letters15 May 2018Death and Cardiac Arrest in U.S. Triathlon ParticipantsArthur J. Siegel, MDArthur J. Siegel, MDMassachusetts General Hospital Internal Medicine Associates, Belmont, Massachusetts (A.J.S.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L18-0021 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Can prerace aspirin protect middle-aged men from the excess risk for cardiac arrest due to nonobstructive coronary atherosclerosis during triathlons as identified by Harris and colleagues (1)? This intervention has been proposed to remedy the increasing frequency of such events in middle-aged male marathon participants whose postrace biomarkers have shown high, if transient, acute cardiac risk (2, 3).An increase in acute cardiovascular events after discontinuation of low-dose aspirin therapy for primary prevention supports this strategy (4), which provides susceptible endurance athletes with preemptive treatment with the only medication approved for prehospital administration in case of acute ...References1. Harris KM, Creswell LL, Haas TS, Thomas T, Tung M, Isaacson E, et al. Death and cardiac arrest in U.S. triathlon participants, 1985 to 2016: a case series. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167:529-35. [PMID: 28975231]. doi:10.7326/M17-0847 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Kim JH, Malhotra R, Chiampas G, d'Hemecourt P, Troyanos C, Cianca J, et al; Race Associated Cardiac Arrest Event Registry (RACER) Study Group. Cardiac arrest during long-distance running races. N Engl J Med. 2012;366:130-40. [PMID: 22236223] doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1106468 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Siegel AJ, Noakes TD. Can pre-race aspirin prevent sudden cardiac death during marathons? [Editorial]. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51:1579-81. [PMID: 28724717] doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096917 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Sundström J, Hedberg J, Thuresson M, Aarskog P, Johannesen KM, Oldgren J. Low-dose aspirin discontinuation and risk of cardiovascular events: a Swedish nationwide, population-based cohort study. Circulation. 2017;136:1183-92. [PMID: 28947478] doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.02832 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Möhlenkamp S, Lehmann N, Breuckmann F, Bröcker-Preuss M, Nassenstein K, Halle M, et al; Marathon Study Investigators. Running: The risk of coronary events: Prevalence and prognostic relevance of coronary atherosclerosis in marathon runners. Eur Heart J. 2008;29:1903-10. [PMID: 18426850] doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehn163 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Massachusetts General Hospital Internal Medicine Associates, Belmont, Massachusetts (A.J.S.)Disclosures: The author has disclosed no conflicts of interest. The form can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L18-0021. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoDeath and Cardiac Arrest in U.S. Triathlon Participants, 1985 to 2016 Kevin M. Harris , Lawrence L. Creswell , Tammy S. Haas , Taylor Thomas , Monica Tung , Erin Isaacson , Ross F. Garberich , and Barry J. Maron Death and Cardiac Arrest in U.S. Triathlon Participants David Brown Death and Cardiac Arrest in U.S. Triathlon Participants Kevin M. Harris , Lawrence L. Creswell , and Barry J. Maron Metrics Cited byAspirin to Reduce Risk for Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes With Elevated C-Reactive Protein LevelsEpidemiological Aspects of Illness and InjuryAspirin to Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes with High Coronary Artery Calcium Scores 15 May 2018Volume 168, Issue 10Page: 752-753KeywordsAcute coronary syndromeAspirinCardiovascular therapyConflicts of interestCoronary artery calcificationDisclosureHeartStable coronary artery disease ePublished: 15 May 2018 Issue Published: 15 May 2018 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2018 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...