Arrhythmias & electrophysiologyCohort study
Ethnicity and sudden cardiac death in athletes: insights from a large United Kingdom registry
- Retrospective registry study
- national cardiac pathology centre
- consecutive referrals
Authors' conclusion
A structurally normal heart at autopsy and myocardial diseases are the most common findings in athletes who died suddenly. While ACM is more common in black athletes, atherosclerotic CAD is more common in Asian athletes, with a strong association with exercise-induced SCD. ACM appears to be a driver of exercise-induced SCD in white athletes, however this is not the case in black and Asian athletes.
Study context
- Population
- Athletes with sudden cardiac death (SCD) referred to a UK national cardiac pathology centre, 1994–November 2022of 7880 SCD cases
- Participants
- 848 athletes
- Exposure
- Black vs white vs Asian athletes
- Whiten = 758
- Blackn = 51
- Asiann = 39
- Outcome
- Aetiology of SCD (autopsy findings) by ethnicity
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Structurally normal heart (sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS))
- n = 385; 45%
- Myocardial diseases
- n = 275; 32%
- Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD)
- n = 58; 7%
- Coronary artery anomalies
- n = 29; 3%
- Death during exercise
- n = 737; 87%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), by ethnicity — Black vs White
P = 0.03
Atherosclerotic CAD, by ethnicity
P = 0.02
| Outcome | P value |
|---|---|
| Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), by ethnicity — Black vs Asian | P = 0.04 |
Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), death during exercise vs at rest
- White athletes: ACM more common in death during exercise than at rest
- P = 0.005
- No such difference in Asian and black athletes
CAD in Asian athletes, by exercise vs rest
- Died during exercise
- 18%
- Died at rest
- 0
Original publication
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it