Pre-race aspirin is discussed as a potential preventive measure for sudden cardiac death triggered by acute myocardial infarction during marathons in middle-aged males.
Does pre-race aspirin prevent sudden cardiac death in marathon runners?
This editorial discusses the potential rationale for using pre-race aspirin to prevent sudden cardiac death triggered by acute myocardial infarction during marathons.
As if reprising the index case of Pheidippides in 490 BC, the sudden cardiac death of a 32-year-old modern-day warrior at mile 20 in the 2016 London marathon mandates an expedited search to prevent such tragic events based on novel insights into the underlying cause (figure 1).1 2 Although the cardiac findings in this case have not been released, an acute coronary event is most likely as the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in men over the age of 30 years including among experienced runners in that event.3–5 Figure 1 Modern and ancient warriors. While the overall incidence of sudden cardiac death during marathons is low, cardiac arrests occur in roughly 1 in 50 000 finishers.6 Based on 59 cases with a mean age of 42 years in a 10-year prospective registry of American road races since 2000, male sex and the marathon were the only significant risk factors for cardiac arrest.7 Atherosclerotic heart disease was the predominant underlying cause in same-aged runners in a concurrent Parisian registry.8 Marathon running thereby illustrates the triggering of acute myocardial infarction by strenuous exercise in middle-aged males with underlying non-obstructive coronary atherosclerosis.9 Supported by a 44% reduction in …
Siegel et al. (Wed,) conducted a editorial in Sudden cardiac death during marathons. Pre-race aspirin was evaluated on Sudden cardiac death. Pre-race aspirin is discussed as a potential preventive measure for sudden cardiac death triggered by acute myocardial infarction during marathons in middle-aged males.