Sickle-Cell Trait as a Risk Factor for Sudden Death in Physical Training

Abstract
Case reports of sudden death during exertion have not established an association between the sicklecell trait (hemoglobin AS) and exercise-related death. To test this association, all deaths occurring among 2 million enlisted recruits during basic training in the U.S. Armed Forces in 1977 to 1981 were classified from autopsy and clinical records as non-sudden deaths or as sudden deaths explained or unexplained by preexisting disease.