Seemingly innocuous blunt chest trauma as a cause of death in athletics (commotio cordis)

Pilato, Michael L.

doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2004.11.007

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(1 reference statement)

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“…Although not as common, commotio cordis is also seen in football, soccer, cricket (40, 41), and with impacts of body parts including fists, knees, shoulders, and feet (42, 43). Chest impact over the cardiac silhouette interrupts the cardiac conduction cycle and results in ventricular fibrillation; collapse is typically very sudden but with immediate defibrillation can be survivable (44). Commotio cordis most frequently affects younger athletes, usually males between five and 15 years of age; these individuals are potentially more vulnerable due to their thinner and more compliant chest wall (42).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Sudden Death in Athletes: The Fittest Bodies in the Morgue

Lear-Kaul

2014

Academic Forensic Pathology

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Sporting events are generally viewed as regulated activities with fit and healthy participants; therefore, when deaths occur, they draw considerable public interest. Athletic participants can be considered a vulnerable population based on inherent risks within certain sports and the associated physiologic stresses, which may complicate underlying medical conditions. Sudden deaths in young athletes participating in high school and collegiate organized sports occur at an average of four to six deaths per year; however, sudden deaths related to exercise outside of an organized sport setting remain unaccounted for in the overall prevalence of these deaths. A typical forensic pathology practice will see not only these higher-profile deaths occurring during an organized sporting event, but also lower-profile occurrences of individuals dying during more recreational or unstructured exercise. Sport-related deaths can essentially be categorized as those that occur due to dangers inherent in the sport itself, such as forms of heat-related illnesses, blunt force trauma, and water-related deaths, and those that occur due to susceptibilities of a given predisposed participant, including sickle cell trait, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and other cardiovascular diseases. This article will address both types of vulnerabilities and provide guidance for appropriate and specific medicolegal death investigation and autopsy procedures in these deaths.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Sudden Death in Athletes: The Fittest Bodies in the Morgue

Lear-Kaul

2014

Academic Forensic Pathology

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“…4 However, there is a rare subtype of blunt trauma-related disease, commotio cordis, which can lead to sudden death in young people injured by a blast or blunt trauma to the anterior chest. [5][6][7] Patients may be saved with timely resuscitation and electric defi brillation. 8,9 This report describes one patient diagnosed with commotio cordis in a motorbike crash.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commotio cordis as a rare cause of traumatic cardiac arrest in motorbike crashes: Report of a case

et al. 2010

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It is futile to attempt resuscitation in a blunt injury patient with no vital signs upon arriving at the emergency department. Therefore, it is recommended that resuscitation be withheld in any blunt trauma patient without vital signs while emergency medical technicians arrive at the scene of the accident. This report presents a case of a blunt torso trauma patient who lost vital signs at the scene and still received cardiopulmonary resuscitation until recovery of spontaneous circulation at the emergency department. The patient was later diagnosed with commotio cordis, and survived to be discharged without any neurological sequelae. Therefore, aggressive resuscitation should be continued until a diagnosis and differential diagnosis of blunt trauma-related cardiac arrest are made by a thorough examination in the emergency department.

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