Abstract
BackgroundSudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during sports can be the first symptom of yet undetected cardiovascular conditions. Immediate chest compressions and early defibrillation offer SCA victims the best chance of survival, which requires prompt bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).AimsTo determine the effect of rapid bystander CPR to SCA during sports by searching for and analyzing videos of these SCA/SCD events from the internet.MethodsWe searched images.google.com, video.google.com, and YouTube.com, and included any camera-witnessed non-traumatic SCA during sports. The rapidity of starting bystander chest compressions and defibrillation was classified as < 3, 3–5, or > 5 min.ResultsWe identified and included 29 victims of average age 27.6 ± 8.5 years. Twenty-eight were males, 23 performed at an elite level, and 18 participated in soccer. Bystander CPR < 3 min (7/29) or 3–5 min (1/29) and defibrillation < 3 min was associated with 100% survival. Not performing chest compressions and defibrillation was associated with death (14/29), and > 5 min delay of intervention with worse outcome (death 4/29, severe neurologic dysfunction 1/29).ConclusionsAnalysis of internet videos showed that immediate bystander CPR to non-traumatic SCA during sports was associated with improved survival. This suggests that immediate chest compressions and early defibrillation are crucially important in SCA during sport, as they are in other settings. Optimal use of both will most likely result in survival. Most videos showing recent events did not show an improvement in the proportion of athletes who received early resuscitation, suggesting that the problem of cardiac arrest during sports activity is poorly recognized.
Highlights
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during sports can be the first symptom of yet undetected cardiovascular conditions
Analysis of internet videos showed that immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to non-traumatic SCA during sports was associated with improved survival
Immediate chest compressions and early defibrillation are crucially important in SCA during sports, as they are in other settings
Summary
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during sports can be the first symptom of yet undetected cardiovascular conditions. The annual incidence of SCA/SCD among athletes aged 35 years and younger is 2.2–9.8/100,000 and is consistently lower in females (ratio up to 1:9) and nonathletes (0.31/100,000) [1,2,3,4,5]. It is well-known that physical activity can trigger life-threatening ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation (VT/VF) in (silent) underlying cardiovascular conditions, such as cardiomyopathy, ion channelopathy, and coronary artery disease [4,5,6,7,8,9]. The international medical societies and sports associations have provided detailed medical action plans and training programs for handling SCA at sports facilities, including rapid bystander CPR to provide chest compression and defibrillation shocks within 3–5 min using an automatic external defibrillator (AED) on-site [11, 14, 15, 18,19,20,21,22,23,24]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
