Cardiovascular Events During the 2006 World Cup Championship

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Summary and Comment

Cardiovascular Events During the 2006 World Cup Championship

An emotional response to a sporting event may provoke a coronary event, especially in those already at risk.

With American football’s Super Bowl just around the corner, it seems timely to examine a report of cardiovascular events that occurred during the 2006 World Cup Soccer Championship in Germany. The German team placed third in this Championship, having lost to the Italian team (the eventual winners) in the semifinals. Investigators compared the coronary events (acute coronary syndromes, symptomatic arrhythmias, cardiac arrests, or therapeutic discharge of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators) that occurred in the greater Munich area during the games, before and after the games, and during the corresponding time periods in prior years (the control period). They included only patients who resided in the area to avoid shifts due to population changes in connection with the tournament.

The incidence of coronary events during matches involving the German team was 2.66 times the incidence during the control period. This incidence was 3.26 times that of the control period in men, but only 1.82 times that of the control period in women (P<0.001 for both sexes). The number of events increased fourfold in patients with a known history of coronary artery disease and doubled in those without known coronary disease. There was no increase during the World Cup games that did not involve the German team.

Comment: These findings show an increase in the incidence of coronary events in Germany in association with the World Cup. This study adds to the literature on triggers of cardiovascular events and perhaps can be used to plan for anticipated increases. Unfortunately, we do not have much information about how to prevent cardiovascular events triggered by emotion.

— Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Published in Journal Watch Cardiology January 30, 2008