Asystole after Exercise in Healthy Persons
Authors: Stefan Osswald
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1994)

Brief Reports15 June 1994Asystole after Exercise in Healthy PersonsStefan Osswald, MD, Ross Brooks, MD, Sean S. O'Nunain, MD, Jay H. Curwin, MD, Marc Roelke, MD, Paul Radvany, MD, Jeremy N. Ruskin, MD, and Brian A. McGovern, MDStefan Osswald, MDFrom Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Search for more papers by this author, Ross Brooks, MDFrom Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Search for more papers by this author, Sean S. O'Nunain, MDFrom Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Search for more papers by this author, Jay H. Curwin, MDFrom Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Search for more papers by this author, Marc Roelke, MDFrom Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Search for more papers by this author, Paul Radvany, MDFrom Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Search for more papers by this author, Jeremy N. Ruskin, MDFrom Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Search for more papers by this author, and Brian A. McGovern, MDFrom Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-120-12-199406150-00007 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Exercise-related syncope is infrequent in healthy persons, although vasodepressor syncope reproduced by positive head-up tilt testing has been reported in small series of healthy persons [1] and athletes [2] with syncope after exercise. Whether vasodepressor syncope may also occur during exercise is controversial and is now an issue of public debate [3]. Asystole after exercise is an extremely rare finding in healthy persons, and single cases without clear proof of the underlying mechanisms have been reported during the past 20 years [4-7]. We describe three patients with recurrent exercise-related syncope in whom prolonged asystole after exercise was documented. Positive head-up ...References1. Sakaguchi S, Shulz JJ, Remole SC, Adler SW, Lurie KG, Benditt DG. Syncope accompanying vigorous exercise in young patients without overt heart disease: a manifestation of neurally-mediated syncope (Abstract). PACE. 1993; 16:893. Google Scholar2. Grubb BP, Temesy-Armos PN, Samoil D, Wolfe DA, Hahn H, Elliott L. Tilt table testing in the evaluation and management of athletes with recurrent exercise-induced syncope. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1993; 25:24-8. Google Scholar3. Kassirer JP. Diagnosis in the public domain (Editorial). N Engl J Med. 1993; 329:50-1. Google Scholar4. Fleg JL, Asante AVK. Asystole following treadmill exercise in a man without organic heart disease. Arch Intern Med. 1983; 143: 1821-2. Google Scholar5. Hirata T, Yano K, Okui T, Mitsuoka T, Hashiba K. 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O'Nunain, MD; Jay H. Curwin, MD; Marc Roelke, MD; Paul Radvany, MD; Jeremy N. Ruskin, MD; Brian A. McGovern, MDAffiliations: From Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, New York.Corresponding Author: Brian A. McGovern, MD, Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, 32 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114.Grant Support: Stefan Osswald is the recipient of a research fellowship granted by the Swiss Lichtenstein Foundation. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byPostexercise AV-block and syncope prevented by beta-blocker therapyBlood pressure regulation X: what happens when the muscle pump is lost? 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