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Datum: 07-12-2004
At the IOC in Lausanne: consensus meeting on 'Sudden Death
in Athletes'
A consensus meeting on “Sudden Death in Athletes” will take place at the IOC in
Lausanne on 9 and 10 December 2004. The meeting of the ad hoc working group on
Sudden Death in Athletes, chaired by Professor Erik J. Meijboom of the
University Hospital Centre in Lausanne (CHUV), is aimed at finding a consensus
on measures that can help prevent the high cardiac mortality rate. Fifteen
well-known experts, among them medical representatives from the IOC, FIFA and
the UCI, will be attending the meeting.
Lausanne Protocol
The consensus meeting is based on an in-depth study carried out by Karin
Bille, David Figueiras and Erik J. Meijboom of the CHUV on the causes of sudden
death in athletes under 35. The results of the study, based on numerous
scientific publications and field research, will be presented to the expert
panel and constitute the basis for producing a consensus paper, the “Lausanne
Protocol”. The project seeks to provide athletes from the same sport with the
same scientific basis in the prevention of “sudden death”.
Two out of 100,000 athletes
“Sudden death” in athletes is underestimated. The leading cause of non-traumatic
sudden death in athletes is cardiac. More than 90% of the cases are linked to a
heart problem - the sudden cardiac death. An “athlete” is defined as a person
participating in an organised team or individual sport, training regularly and
competing regularly against others. Two out of 100,000 athletes between 12 and
35 years of age die of sudden cardiac death each year. In the general,
non-athlete population, the incidence is approximately three times lower, at 0.7
individuals per 100,000.
Definition of sudden cardiac death
Sudden cardiac death is defined as follows: unexpected, natural death due to a
cardiac cause in a person without any previous condition that would appear
fatal, occurring within one hour of the onset of symptoms.
Non-cardiac causes
Non-cardiac causes of sudden death – less than 10% of all cases - include asthma
or other pulmonary conditions, heat stroke, cerebral embolism, ruptured cerebral
artery or aneurysm, head and spine trauma as well as drug abuse/doping.
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