Exertional sudden death in soldiers

To address the problem of a significant rise in the incidence of exertional sudden death worldwide, the medical records and necropsy reports of all deaths that occurred in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) during 1974-1986 were scrutinized. Twenty male soldiers, aged 18-29 yr, died suddenly and unexpectedly within 24 h of strenuous exercise. Necropsy results, available for 90% of the subjects, included underlying cardiac disease in 50% and noncardiac causes of death in 33.3%; the cause of death was unidentifiable in 16.7% of the subjects. Prodromal symptoms in 70% of the subjects are presented as a main focus of this investigation. The most frequently reported symptom was exertional or nonexertional syncope in 40% of the subjects. Chest pain, acute gastrointestinal symptoms, or febrile disease were reported in 30% of the cases. The findings of this research suggest that syncope is a major antecedent symptom of exertional sudden death. An attack of syncope in young conditioned individuals should be followed by thorough medical surveillance, and strenuous exercise should be avoided until this procedure is completed. Sports and military officials have the obligation to promote awareness that strenuous exercise should not be performed in the presence of acute gastrointestinal symptoms or febrile illness.