Touch of Death
Commotio cordis is a very rare event, but nonetheless is often considered when an athlete presents with sudden cardiac death. Some of the sports which have a risk for this cause of trauma are baseball, American football, association football, ice hockey, polo, rugby football, cricket, softball, pelota, fencing, lacrosse, boxing, professional wrestling, and martial arts (see Touch of Death). Children are especially vulnerable, possibly due to the mechanical properties of their thoracic skeleton. From 1996 to spring 2007, the USA National Commotio Cordis Registry had 188 cases recorded, with about half occurring during organized sports. Almost all (96%) of the victims were male, the mean age of the victims during that period was 14.7 years, and fewer than one in five survived the incident.