Arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in elite athletes. American College of Cardiology, 16th Bethesda Conference

Abstract

With the recent high visibility deaths of Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis, two nationally recognized elite basketball players due to cardiovascular disease and arrhythmias, our awareness of the most optimal ways to manage athletes with known arrhythmias has become heightened. In making medical decisions we physicians come to rely in large measure on data, in addition to clinical acumen and experience. Unfortunately, we are at a disadvantage with respect to athletes since previously published data on the natural history and outcome of such individuals with known arrhythmias are sparse. Furthermore, the tragedies of Lewis, Gathers, Pete Maravich and others are also poignant reminders that the denominator of this equation is not defined and that we do not really know precisely how many athletes experience important arrhythmias, nor their relation to sports activity. In the decade since the 16th Bethesda Conference, an American College of Cardiology sponsored consensus panel that developed standards and recommendations for the disqualification from competition of athletes with known cardiovascular disease, little new data have been developed to make objective decisions in these areas (including arrhythmias) much easier. Nevertheless, while such decision-making in athletes involves situations that are relatively rare, the consequences of misjudgement are substantial. Unfortunately, to complicate matters, even if the precise likelihood of sudden death for a given athlete with arrhythmias were known, many (if not most) professional and elite college athletes might still regard any risk as acceptable and withdrawal from formal competition as highly unacceptable from a financial and psychological standpoint. In this review, consideration will be given to the state of our medical knowledge in these areas. Many controversies persist with regard to arrhythmias, most notably for the athlete who has Wolff-Parkinson-White, mitral valve prolapse, myocarditis, or complex ventricular arrhythmias. Finally, consideration will be given to the broader issues of how, ad physicians and members of society, we may deal with these complex issues.