Volume 32, Nº 4, July and August 2019
DOI: http://www.dx.doi.org/10.5935/2359-4802.20190065
CASE REPORT
Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Athletes: Do not Miss Suspicious Details
Marta Luísa Braga
Paula Dias
Mariana Vasconcelos
Rui Almeida
Paulo Araújo
Maria Maciel
Introduction
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) related to sports activities is an unexpected and rare event, usually occurring in young and apparently healthy athletes. The main cause of SCD in young athletes (< 35 years old) is ventricular arrhythmia (VA) associated with arrhythmogenic disorders (e.g. hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy – ARVC, channelopathies). Some of these conditions can be suspected by routine preparticipation clinical evaluation, while others remain undetectable even after careful screening.1-3 This paper presents the case of a professional athlete with undiagnosed ARVC, whose first manifestation was malignant VA and biventricular dysfunction.
Keywords: Spots; Athletes; Physical Endurance; Risk Assessment; Sudden Death; Cardiac Arrest; Arrhythmias Cardiac; Arrhytmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia.