Sudden death during sports activity an unusual cause

Abstract

Sudden Death may occur during exercise due to cardiac or extra-cardiac causes. This case concerns an apparently healthy 49-year-old male that died during athletics training, immediately after complaining of chest pain. The postmortem examination revealed massive pulmonary oedema and multiple necrotic liver granulomas, eosinophilrich (with degranulation), some of which contain foreign bodies whose morphology is consistent with Schistosoma mansoni’s eggs. Death resulted from an anaphylatic reaction with acute lung oedema as a consequence of parasitic allergic hepatitis aggravated by the effort of sports activity. Schistosomiasis is an unusual cause of sudden and unexpected death, mainly in Europe.