Electronic games can trigger heart problems in some children: study

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Playing video games can potentially threaten the lives of children who are prone to heart rhythm problems, says a new international study believed to be the first research into sudden deaths occurring during electronic gaming.

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The study, published in the journal Heart Rhythm, documented an unusual but clear pattern in children who lost consciousness while playing electronic games, including console or computer games and arcade games.

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Of 22 children who experienced a heart attack while playing video games, seven had a prior heart diagnosis, while 12 were subsequently diagnosed with heart disease. No diagnosis was made in the remaining three patients.

Of the 22, six children suffered cardiac arrest. Four died. Their ages ranged from seven to 16 years.

The study came about after the small and tight-knit international community of experts in inherited cardiac arrhythmia noticed cases in which patients had heart attacks while playing video games, said Dr. Shubhayan Sanatani, one of the authors of the study and chief of cardiology at BC Children’s Hospital.

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An international study involving about a dozen centers around the world was launched, drawing on their own cases and four others identified from a systematic review of the literature.

“Given the large number of centers contacted for cases around the world, it is clear that this phenomenon is uncommon, but it is clearly widespread internationally and can pose a significant problem in children with cardiac arrhythmia,” says in the study.

Sanatani warned against overinterpreting the results given the small sample size.

“BBut I think it’s an interesting signal, one that should make doctors consider counseling patients about the potential stress that video games pose to vulnerable patients.

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Sanatani said he will now have a conversation with patients and families about safety precautions surrounding electronic gaming.

According to the study, eight of the 13 cases in which the researchers had information about the type of game being played at the time of the heart attack were playing a war game.

Of the seven cases where the researchers knew the phase of the game, in six cases the players had just won or lost, while one was fighting with a sibling for the electronic game controller at the time of the event.

The finding suggests video games may not be a safe alternative to competitive or high-risk sports for children with heart disease, an expert said.

“Video games were something I used to think would be an alternative ‘safe activity,'” study author Christian Turner, of the Heart Center for Children in Sydney, said in a statement.

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“This is a really important discovery. We need to make sure everyone knows the importance of getting checked out if someone has had a blackout episode in these circumstances.”

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