Exercise-associated cardiac asystole in persons without structural heart disease.
Exercise-associated cardiac asystole (EACA) in patients without structural heart disease is uncommonly encountered. Two patients who developed prolonged asystolic arrest associated with exercise are described; both demonstrated a positive head-up tilt table response, absence of underlying heart disease, and a history of vagotonia. A review of this condition in the literature suggests the occurrence of this syndrome of EACA in young men with atheletic inclination who developed syncope usually after a strenuous exercise at a high heart rate. Although the described patients usually responded by avoiding maximal exercise and the use of beta-blockade, vagolytic agent, and permanent pacing, EACA may be the link for some cases of exercise-related asystolic deaths.
Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital.
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Tse
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Lau
D000328:Adult; D004562:Electrocardiography; D015444:Exercise; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013575:Syncope / Q000209:etiology; D018667:Tilt-Table Test