Cyber war--when virtual fear of death turns into a real threat of life.

Many electronic games have violent contents. A growing population of adolescent boys and girls report to regularly play violent electronic games (VEGs). Extensive video game use has been linked with obesity, physical discomfort and seizures. We report on a young, healthy man who participated in an online VEG and developed a life threatening stress-induced cardiomyopathy (SICMP) with ventricular tachyarrhythmia and apical thrombus.