June 5, 2017Open Access
View Full PaperSafety of Sports for Athletes With Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators
Key Result
Sports participation among athletes with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators resulted in no deaths, failures to defibrillate, or injuries from arrhythmia or shock in initial results.
Study Design
Type
Observational
Multicenter
Yes
Structured PICO
Does sports participation increase the risk of death, failure to defibrillate, or injury in athletes with ICDs?
P
Population
Athletes with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators participating in sports, followed for 4 years.
E
Exposure
Sports participation
O
Outcome
Death caused by failure to defibrillate, injury resulting from arrhythmia-related syncope or shock, or device damagesafety
The ICD Sports Safety Registry provides prospective data demonstrating the safety of sports participation for athletes with ICDs, supporting updated guidelines that allow competitive sports.
Abstract
ntil 2015, consensus statements 1,2 advised against sports participation more vigorous than golf for patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) because of the postulated risks of death caused by failure to defibrillate, injury resulting from arrhythmia-related syncope or shock, or device damage. The multinational, prospective, observational ICD Sports Safety Registry quantified risks associated with sports participation for athletes receiving ICDs on the basis of standard criteria. Initial results (2013 3 ) demonstrated no death, failure to defibrillate, or injury resulting from arrhythmia or shock during sports. On the basis of these data, the 2015 eligibility and disqualification recommendations for competitive athletes with cardiovascular disease 4 now state that competitive sports may be considered for athletes with ICDs. This report describes 4-year follow-up of the completed registry. 3 Methods are as reported previously. The Yale University Human Investigation Committee approved the study. All participants gave written informed consent.