Exertional heat stroke: the runner's nemesis.

Heat stroke in distance runners is increasing in frequency. A case is reported of a 41-year-old man who collapsed during a 10-km "fun run" held when the temperature was 31.6 degrees C and the humidity 80%. Acute renal failure (serum creatinine level 1530 mumol/l [17.3 mg/dl]), rhabdomyolysis, disseminated intravascular coagulation and hepatic damage complicated the clinical picture. Repeated peritoneal dialysis and one cycle of hemodialysis …