Title : Exertional sudden cardiac death in the elderly athlete: A literature review
Abstract:
Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) occurring within one hour of vigorous activity in elderly individuals is an underrecognized event during sports and training sessions. A subset of these athletes engages in such activities as leisure pursuits rather than as part of regular endurance training, placing excessive strain on their cardiovascular system. Additionally, heat stroke may be overlooked when the clinical focus is limited to cardiac causes of collapse. This review involved an extensive search of PubMed, Google Scholar, and general web sources using targeted keywords. We examined the relative risk of SCD associated with infrequent high-intensity exercise and explored underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Our findings highlight the need for preventive strategies, including pre-participation screening and increased awareness of risk factors, to reduce mortality in this population.
