Heat-Related Illness in Athletes.

This JAMA Insights discusses heat-related illness in athletes, including risk factors, prevention, symptoms, and management.

Mass Participation and Tournament Event Management for the Team Physician: A Consensus Statement (2022 Update).

ABSTRACT: Mass participation events include endurance events (e.g., marathon, triathlon) and/or competitive tournaments (e.g., baseball, tennis, football (soccer) tournaments). Event management requires medical administrative and participant care planning. Medical management provides safety advice and care at the event that accounts for large numbers of participants, anticipated injury and illness, variable environment, repeated games or matches, and mixed age groups of varying athletic ability. This document does not pertain to the care of the spectator.

Genome-Wide Analysis of Exertional Rhabdomyolysis in Sickle Cell Trait Positive African Americans.

Sickle cell trait (SCT), although generally a benign carrier state of hemoglobin S (HbAS), is a risk factor for exertional rhabdomyolysis (ERM), a rare but potentially fatal consequence of highly intense physical exercise, particularly among active-duty military personnel and high-performance athletes. The association between SCT and ERM is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to elucidate the genetic basis of ERM in an SCT-positive African American cohort. SCT-positive African Americans with a personal history of ERM (cases, n = 30) and without history of ERM (controls, n = 53) were enrolled in this study. Whole-genome sequencing was performed on DNA samples isolated from peripheral white blood cells. Participants' demographic, behavioral, and medical history information was obtained. An additional 131 controls were extracted from SCT-positive subjects of African descent from the 1000 Genomes Project. SCT carriers with ERM were characterized by myotoxicity features, significant muscle involvement dominated by muscle weakness, and severe pain and substantial increase in serum creatine kinase, with a mean value of 50,480 U/L. A distinctive feature of the SCT individuals with ERM was exertional collapse, which was reported in 53.3% of the cases in the study cohort. An important factor for the development of ERM was the duration and frequency of strenuous physical activity in the cases compared to the controls. Whole-genome sequencing identified 79,696 protein-coding variants. Genome-wide association analysis revealed that the p.C477R, rs115958260 variant in the SLC44A3 gene was significantly associated with ERM event in SCT-positive African Americans. The study results suggest that a combination of vigorous exercise and a genetic predisposing factor is involved in ERM.

Initial Assessment and Management of Select Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Team Physician Consensus Statement.

ABSTRACT: Musculoskeletal injuries occur frequently in sport during practice, training, and competition. Injury assessment and management are common responsibilities for the team physician. Initial Assessment and Management of Musculoskeletal Injury-A Team Physician Consensus Statement is title 23 in a series of annual consensus documents written for the practicing team physician. This statement was developed by the Team Physician Consensus Conference, an annual project-based alliance of six major professional associations. The goal of this document is to help the team physician improve the care and treatment of the athlete by understanding the initial assessment and management of selected musculoskeletal injuries.

Mass Participation and Tournament Event Management for the Team Physician: A Consensus Statement (2022 Update).

ABSTRACT: Mass participation events include endurance events (e.g., marathon, triathlon) and/or competitive tournaments (e.g., baseball, tennis, football (soccer) tournaments). Event management requires medical administrative and participant care planning. Medical management provides safety advice and care at the event that accounts for large numbers of participants, anticipated injury and illness, variable environment, repeated games or matches, and mixed age groups of varying athletic ability. This document does not pertain to the care of the spectator.

Heat Tolerance Testing and the Return to Duty Decision: A Two-Year Case Cohort Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Among individuals with prior exertional heat illness (EHI), heat tolerance testing (HTT) may inform risk and return to duty/activity. However, little is known about HTT's predictive validity, particularly for EHI recurrence. Our project sought to demonstrate the predictive validity of HTT in EHI recurrence and HTT's utility as a diagnostic tool in exertional heat stroke (EHS). METHODS: Participants with prior EHS were recruited for the study by a physician's referral and were classified as heat tolerant or intolerant after completing demographics and an HTT. Participants were further categorized as single/simple (SS) EHI or recurrent/complex (RC) EHI by conducting a retrospective record review of the following two years. We calculated the positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of HTT. RESULTS: The retrospective review of HTT records was used to categorize 44% of Servicemembers as RC, with 77% classified as heat tolerant, 14% as heat intolerant, and 9% as borderline. When borderline cases were classified as heat intolerant, HTT had a high NPV, indicating a high probability that heat-tolerant individuals did not have recurrent EHI. When borderline cases were classified as heat tolerant, NPV and sensitivity decreased while specificity increased. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that the HTT had a 100% NPV for future EHI over two years of follow-up for Servicemembers with a history of recurrent heat injury and negative HTT results. An HTT can provide critical data points to inform return to duty decisions and timelines by predicting the risk of EHI recurrence.