It may be possible for some athletes to continue playing competitive sports despite having an implantable defibrillator according to a recent study published in this week’s Circulation.

The study followed 440 athletes with ICDs who participated in organized sports over a 4 year period. Diagnoses included HCM, Long QT Syndrome, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) .  Common sports for the patient-athletes were running, basketball and soccer.

Over the period of the study, 121 of the patient-athletes received a total of 184 shocks:   7% while participating in competition or practice, 5% during other physical activities, and 6% while resting.  No deaths were reported over the approximately 44 months study. “Even though some people did receive shocks while they were participating in sports, no harm came to patients,” said lead author Dr. Rachel Lampert, a professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine.

The study did note that patients with ARVC who engaged in sports were more likely to experience life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias requiring therapy, and, were more likely to receive repeated shocks from their devices.  Hence, competitive sports may be inadvisable for ARVC patients.

For more details about this study, see this story from Health Day News and from Yale News.