BJSM Online First, published on July 19, 2017 as 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096917 Editorial Br J Sports Med: first published as 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096917 on 19 July 2017. Downloaded from as gastrointestinal bleeding or allergy.11 Can pre-race aspirin prevent sudden This strategy is concordant with clinical guidelines endorsing aspirin for primary cardiac death during marathons? prevention in persons at high cardiovas- cular risk, which includes middle-aged Arthur J Siegel,1,2 Timothy D Noakes3 males at increased short-term risk for acute myocardial ischaemia.12 13 IMMDA’s advisory is analogous to that proposed for firefighters, who are at increased risk for sudden cardiac death during emergency duties in part related to procoagulant effects as shown in athletes after strenuous physical exer- cise.14–16 Attenuation of training-induced prothrombotic effects by aspirin in fire- fighters would apply as well to runners based on atherothrombosis as the shared Figure 1 Modern and ancient warriors. pathogenic paradigm.17 In contrast to continuous prophylaxis to cover unpre- dictable risk in firefighters, prerace use may As if reprising the index case of Pheidip- suffice for marathoners who are at other- pides in 490 BC, the sudden cardiac death wise low cardiovascular risk as assessed by of a 32-year-old modern-day warrior at 10-year Framingham measures. mile 20 in the 2016 London marathon Assessment of coronary artery calci- mandates an expedited search to prevent fication, which independently predicts such tragic events based on novel insights incident coronary heart disease and death 1 2 into the underlying cause (figure 1). in males aged 32 to 46 years,18 may be Although the cardiac findings in this case useful for stratifying the utility of aspirin have not been released, an acute coronary for marathoners with such evidence for event is most likely as the most common atherosclerosis.19 This strategy may be cause of sudden cardiac death in men especially relevant for habitual mara- over the age of 30 years including among thoners whose paradoxically higher 3–5 experienced runners in that event. scores correlate inversely with event- While the overall incidence of sudden free survival.20 This finding indicates cardiac death during marathons is low, short-term risk for acute cardiac events cardiac arrests occur in roughly 1 in 50 000 associated with atherosclerotic plaque 6 http://bjsm.bmj.com/ finishers. Based on 59 cases with a mean burden, confounding the benefit of age of 42 years in a 10-year prospective enhanced longevity with this lifestyle.21–23 registry of American road races since 2000, male sex and the marathon were the only Figure 2 Father Time running a 7 significant risk factors for cardiac arrest. marathon, by Peter de Seve, the New Yorker, The case for using prerace aspirin in Atherosclerotic heart disease was the 13 November 1995. middle-aged males predominant underlying cause in same-aged Given 285 040 US male marathoners over 8 24 runners in a concurrent Parisian registry. the age of 40 in 2015, IMMDA’s advi- on September 26, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. Marathon running thereby illustrates the Medical Directors Association (IMMDA) sory warrants expedited attention given a triggering of acute myocardial infarction has recommended prerace aspirin for males greater than twofold increase in race-re- by strenuous exercise in middle-aged males over the age of 40 years with approval by lated cardiac arrests since 2005.7 We with underlying non-obstructive coronary their physicians after considering risks such therefore encourage medical directors to 9 atherosclerosis. follow Rio de Janeiro’s lead by informing Box 1 Rationale for using prerace entrants of IMMDA’s advisory, hoping to RATIONALE FOR TARGETED aspirin to prevent sudden cardiac avert cardiac arrests as occurred at their PREVENTION last two races (personal communication, death during marathons Supported by a 44% reduction in first acute Paulo Alfono Loriega de Menezes, MD, myocardial infarctions in healthy middle- medical director, Rio de Janeiro mara- ► Aspirin reduces first acute myocardial aged men in the Physicians Health Study, thon). infarctions in healthy males by 44%. a randomised controlled primary preven- Prerace aspirin provides runners 10 ► Acute myocardial infarction is the tion trial, the International Marathon pre-emptively with the only pharmacolog- most common cause of sudden ical agent with a class 1A recommendation 1 cardiac death in males over the McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA for pre-hospital administration in the 2Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA age of 30 including during 3 event of an acute coronary syndrome. Such Department of Human Biology, University of Cape marathons. Town, Cape Town, South Africa usage may reduce the increasing frequency ► Use of prerace low-dose aspirin of emergent post-race percutaneous coro- Correspondence to Dr. Arthur J Siegel, McLean is prudent to prevent race-related nary angioplasties and bypass surgery, as Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; sudden cardiac death. asiegel@ partners. org occurred after the most recent Boston and Siegel AJ, Noakes TD. Br J Sports Med Month 2017 Vol 0 No 0 1 Copyright Article author (or their employer) 2017. Produced by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd under licence. Editorial Br J Sports Med: first published as 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096917 on 19 July 2017. Downloaded from Chicago marathons.25 26 ‘Just because the Open Access This is an Open Access article distributed 14 Kales SN, Smith DL. Firefighting and the cardiac risk is low, doesn’t mean it can’t in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution heart: implications for prevention. Circulation 2017;135:1296–9. be lower’, argues Amby Burfoot, Runners Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work 15 Siegel AJ, Stec JJ, Lipinska I, et al. Effect of marathon World’s editor-at-large and former Boston non-commercially, and license their derivative works on running on inflammatory and hemostatic markers. Am marathon champion.27 different terms, provided the original work is properly J Cardiol 2001;88:918–20. IMMDA’s advisory enables middle-aged cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http:// 16 Huskens D, Roest M, Remijn JA, et al. Strenuous males to make more informed decisions creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by- nc/ 4. 0/ exercise induces a hyperreactive rebalanced haemostatic state that is more pronounced in men. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless regarding the cardiovascular benefits of Thromb Haemost 2016;115:1109–19. otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All marathon training and pre-race aspirin use 17 Smith DL, Horn GP, Woods J, et al. Effect of aspirin rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless 28 supplementation on hemostatic responses in for risk reduction during races (figure 2). otherwise expressly granted. The lifetime benefit of reducing risk for firefighters aged 40 to 60 years. Am J Cardiol 2016;118:275–80. sudden cardiac death through mara- 18 Carr JJ, Jacobs DR, Terry JG, et al. Association of thon training can be accomplished with coronary artery calcium in adults aged 32 to 46 years attenuation of its transient risk during with incident coronary heart disease and death. JAMA races (box 1).9 29 In lieu of a randomised Cardiol 2017;2:391. To cite Siegel AJ, Noakes TD. Br J Sports Med controlled primary prevention trial in mara- 19 Möhlenkamp S, Leineweber K, Lehmann N, et al. Published Online First: [please include Day Month Year]. Coronary atherosclerosis burden, but not transient thoners, which lacks feasibility due to the doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096917 troponin elevation, predicts long-term outcome in low frequency of index events, prospective Received 29 August 2016 recreational marathon runners. Basic Res Cardiol registries can be used to assess aspirin’s effi- Revised 8 May 2017 2014;109:391–5. cacy once usage gains acceptance among Accepted 16 May 2017 20 Tsiflikas I,Thomas C, Fallmann C, et al. Prevalence of subclinical coronary artery disease in middle-aged, runners contingent on wider support by the Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1. male marathon runners detected by cardiac CT. Rofo marathon medical community. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096917 2015;187:561–8. The goal of reducing sudden cardiac 21 Merghani A, Maestrini V, Rosmini S, et al. death in middle-aged males during mara- REFERENCES Prevalence of subclinical coronary artery thons is realistic in our view, having 1 Siegel AJ. Pheidippides redux: reducing risk for acute disease in masters endurance athletes with a low atherosclerotic risk profile. Circulation successfully curtailed race-related fatalities cardiac events during marathon running. Am J Med 2012;125:630–5. 2017:CIRCULATIONAHA.116.026964. due to water intoxication in young females 22 Aengevaeren VL, Mosterd A, Braber TL, et al. The 30 31 2 London marathon runner David Seath dies three miles through a robust consensus process. As from finish line after cardiac arrest. Independent. relationship between lifelong exercise volume and it is safe, inexpensive and readily available Monday 25 April 2016. http://www. independent. co. coronary atherosclerosis in athletes. Circulation uk/ news/ uk/ home- news/ london- mararthon- death- 2017:CIRCULATIONAHA.117.027834 (Originally worldwide, aspirin is ready for prime time in published 27 Apr 2017). middle-aged males as a high-risk subgroup. david- seath- soldier- dies- three- miles- from- finidh- line- after- suffering- cardiac- a6999411. htmlgallery. 23 Lee DC, Brellenthin AG, Thompson PD, et al. Running Based on a predominance of current clinical 3 Bagnall RD, Weintraub RG, Ingles J, et al. A prospective as a key lifestyle medicine for longevity. Prog evidence, this remedy, known to Hippo- study of sudden cardiac death among children and Cardiovasc Dis 2017.