Sudden cardiac death and intercourse

When it comes to activities that could potentially lead to sudden cardiac death (SCD), coitus can be added to the list—for both men and women. SCD can occur in various circumstances, but it’s not always about sports related activities, according to a recent study in JAMA. Here, U.K. researchers investigated SCD as it related specifically to sexual activity. The goal was to describe the characteristics of this cohort and underlying causes of death. Read: New guidelines for peripheral artery disease released by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Previous studies have reported the occurrence of sudden cardiac arrest during sexual intercourse mainly in middle-aged men, but this small study included a younger cohort and found a higher rate of women. To do the study, researchers used a database of SCD cases that were referred to the center for cardiac pathology at St George’s University of London between Jan. 1, 1994, and Aug. 31, 2020. The cases had all undergone autopsies, including a toxicological screening to exclude noncardiac causes. SCD was defined as death occurring within 12 hours of apparent well-being the study said. Clinical information was also attained., and histological studies were done by cardiac pathologists, Out of a total of 6,847 SCD cases, a total of 17 cases died during or within an hour of sexual intercourse. There were 11 men and 6 women. It was found over half, 53% (nine subjects) appeared to have had sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, while 12% (two) had aortic dissection. Other deaths were attributed to a mix of cardiac conditions including arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, ischemic heart disease, idiopathic fibrosis, idiopathic left ventricular hypertrophy, and mitral valve prolapse. More women The researchers stated that one thing stood out: the proportion of female who died from SCD associated with sexual intercourse was substantially higher than in previous studies, making up 35% of the cohort. The study did not include people who survived cardiac arrests. “This difference was likely associated with the difference in age bracket given that we included individuals with a mean age at death of 38 years and the other reports included older male individuals among whom a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease was expected,” the researchers wrote. The numbers in the study are too small to really make anything of the women and sexual intercourse association, according to Dr. Dennis Ko, a cardiologist, and professor, of medicine at the University of Toronto. “This study is very selected and tried to talk an angle. They could have highlighted people walking or other variable prior to sudden death and would have reported xx% had walking and then SCD. The main issue is the unclear denominator,” he told the Medical Post. An earlier study by French researchers looked at people who experienced sudden cardiac arrest (and survived) resulting from sexual intercourse and compared them to survivors who did other types of activities. They found that the patients were more likely to be male, were younger age than those doing other activities, had a smaller prevalence of warning symptoms. Both groups had a similar cardiovascular risks. Details were published in 2018 in Circulation. The main etiologies were acute coronary syndrome, followed by subarachnoid hemorrhage and, to a lesser extent, chronic coronary artery disease, and structural nonischemic heart disease. Changes during coitus They noted that changes during coitus include “Hemodynamic changes, including increased heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure… especially during orgasm. The increased cerebral perfusion pressure when intracranial pressure decreases abruptly during orgasm results in maximal wall tension in cerebral aneurysms, which could explain the higher proportion of subarachnoid hemorrhage” found in that study. They concluded that SCA during intercourse is rare and usually occurs in middle-aged men. As for deaths, they noted that bystander CPR is often unlikely and contributes to a higher rate of death than what occurs in other physical activities. Related, in Canada, doctors can turn to the Canadian Cardiovascular Society statement relating to SCD in athletes and screening.

Sudden cardiac death and intercourse

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