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Triathlon’s popularity is rapidly increasing, and epidemiological data relating to its related medical conditions is crucial to the development of proper medical plans and safety guidelines for it. This study examined the data from the medical reports collected during three consecutive editions of Ironman Italy, from 2017 to 2019. Out of 10,653 race-starters, 3.3% required medical attention sustaining 472 medical conditions. A significantly higher injury risk was found for females versus males (χ2 = 9.78, p = 0.02) and in long-distance (IR: 4.09/1,000hours) rather than in Olympic/middle distance races (IR: 1.75/1,000hours). Most (68.4%) conditions (including muscular exhaustion, hypothermia, and dehydration) were systemic, whilst only 10.2% were acute traumatic injuries. Of a total of 357 triathletes requiring medical assistance, 8.1% were a candidate for hospitalisation. The equipment and personnel that are required for the medical assistance in future triathlon events were estimated based on Maurer’s algorithm, and ten practical recommendations for triathlon medical support were formulated.

Two cases of acute promyelocytic leukemia with variant translocation involving 4 chromosomes are described. The karyotypes were 47,XX, +8,t(13;15;17;20)(q22;q22;q12;q13) and 46,XY,t(5;15;16;17)(q22;q22;p13;q12), respectively. Variant translocations in APL apparently do not follow any preferential routes since no recurrent breakpoint additional to those of chromosomes 15 and 17 has been found in any of the cases reported in the literature and in those described here. Moreover, it seems that the translocation of the RAR alpha gene from chromosome 17 to chromosome 15 is directly involved in the pathogenesis of the disease, while the reciprocal one is not, as demonstrated by variant translocations where 15q migrates to chromosomes other than 17.