[Exhaustion syndromes in a popular marathon]

The clinical characteristics of seven healthy subjects who required hospital care for an exhaustion syndrome due to extenuated physical exercise during participation in a public marathon are presented. All the patients were used to practising sports activities and in all the cases the symptoms of exhaustion appeared in the last few kilometers of the race. The most frequent symptom found in all the patients was lipothymia with falling to the ground followed by gastrointestinal manifestations, muscle cramping and fever. Upon analysis the signs of rhabdomyolysis and others suggestive of dehydration were observed in all the cases. Leukocytosis was observed in four and hypopotassemia in two. Evolution was good in all the cases with rest and hydroelectrolytic reposition. Finally, the preventive measures to avoid heat stroke and exhaustion syndromes in public marathons are reported.