Italian international footballer Davide Astori died overnight from Saturday to Sunday in a hotel in Udine, the city where his team was to play the next day. 31 years old, captain of Fiorentina, selected 14 times for the national team, he was a high level athlete theoretically very closely monitored medically. A new victim of a violent heart attack, which kills more than 10,000 people in France… not just athletes.
Sudden death does not necessarily occur during an effort
David Astori died in his sleep, in Udine, in a hotel. The Fiorentina team were to play an Italian Championship match on Sunday today. At 31, the Fiorentina captain had 14 caps. Sudden death accounts for 8.5% of deaths before the age of 35; which represents 2 deaths per 100,000 people of this age.
In question, an uncontrollable panic of the heart.
We will have to wait for the results of Davide’s autopsy, because several hypotheses can be raised; But the most likely is the occlusion of a coronary artery (the arteries of the heart). The heart, no longer supplied with oxygen, causes panic in the contractions in a few seconds, and without an electric shock caused by a defibrillator, stops failing to be able to curb what is called “ventricular fibrillation”, c ‘that is to say the anarchic beating of the ventricles main parts of the heart. Death is then immediate
A tragedy that occurred 800 times in France last year.
Once again death has struck a young athlete in good health … Unfortunately, it is a tragic event which is not uncommon, several hundred per year in our country.
All club managers fear this tragedy represented by the sudden death of the athlete which does not occur, it must be said, that during a violent effort … Indeed the occasion of an effort that is sometimes harmless, in any case disproportionate with the consequences – a healthy individual collapses, dead. And without the immediate intervention of specialized help, or the presence of mind of rescuers experienced in the technique of cardiac massage, doctors almost always arrive only to see the fatal outcome. Because stopped, the heart will start again only thanks to a powerful stimulation. The ideal is to have an automatic defibrillator that we are starting to see in public places including in our country. It is the dream of all sports speakers. This is already the case in the United States, where it is found in almost all stadiums, it will probably be quickly in France.
But the drama does not strike only in the stadiums, it can be at the turn of a jog in the countryside, without witnesses, therefore without a net! Or even in the middle of the night as it has just happened for Davide Astori. 1 in 3 deaths occur during sleep!
It is a very difficult event to predict
The Americans, who have a real lead on this subject, have taken an interest in prevention. They published the results of a major investigation into the careful examination of dozens of athletes who died either during or immediately after exertion. At the autopsy, which is systematic, most presented a small malformation of their coronary arteries, these arteries which supply our heart and are responsible for infarction, panic in the rhythm and cardiac arrests, when they become blocked. So, the American doctors made a very precise investigation and by going back in the history of these sportsmen, they realized that if 50% of them had never had preventive manifestations of this malformation, the other half had presented with chest pain and small fainting spells that immediately raise suspicion of heart trouble.
Quite logically, their doctors had prescribed them additional examinations: Electrocardiogram and monitoring of the heart during a test of pedaling on a bicycle, what is called the stress test. However, all these examinations were strictly normal. The study therefore concludes that in front of any suspicious symptom in an athlete, it is imperative to carry out in addition to these examinations a cardiac ultrasound. This is the only simple way to highlight the coronary malformation. And if this malformation exists, then the cessation of competition will be imperative and the surgical intervention immediate to offer these potential convicts a normal sporting existence.
Yet we recommend physical activity even for heart patients in their recovery!
Indeed the latest recommendations, born from the progress of knowledge in cardiology, have just completely changed the dogma which for years had condemned cardiacs to immobility. For example, in coronary artery disease, in the past hardly any patient was suitable for receiving a medical certificate for the practice of competitive sport. Today, a coronary artery patient who has undergone an operation which consists of dilating his blocked arteries is authorized, 6 months later, to practice normal physical activity. The new recommendations identified every type of sport for every heart disease.
One more reason to learn cardiac massage technique
In the absence of a defibrillator, which we are beginning to find in all public places, external cardiac massage can restart the heart or at least continue feeding the brain while awaiting the arrival of help and we wonders why one in five French people, against two in three Swedes for example, are able to do them. There are many places where you can learn, Red Cross or Firefighters; It is a civic duty while not forgetting that 9 times out of 10 it is on someone that we love that we will have to act.
An extremely important notion: even if you have never learned, you should at least press very hard in the middle of the chest, with both hands. To the rhythm of the music of Staying Alive by the Bee Gees. Do not smile! this is the official rhythm defined by American cardiologists
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