scholarly journals Sudden Cardiac Death and Arrhythmias

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil T Srinivasan ◽  
Richard J Schilling ◽  
◽  

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) and arrhythmia represent a major worldwide public health problem, accounting for 15–20 % of all deaths. Early resuscitation and defibrillation remains the key to survival, yet its implementation and the access to public defibrillators remains poor, resulting in overall poor survival to patients discharged from hospital. Novel approaches employing smart technology may provide the solution to this dilemma. Though the majority of cases are attributable to coronary artery disease, a thorough search for an underlying cause in cases where the diagnosis is unclear is necessary. This enables better management of arrhythmia recurrence and screening of family members. The majority of cases of SCD occur in patients who do not have traditional risk factors for arrhythmia. New and improved large scale screening tools are required to better predict risk in the wider population who represent the majority of cases of SCD.

Author(s):  
Omar Elsaka

Background: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) remains a major open clinical and public health problem, with an estimated 300,000 deaths per year in the United States. The possibility of identifying potential SCD victims is limited by the large size of the large number of SCD victims and the apparent time-dependent risk of sudden death. The latter refers to the tendency of SCDs to detect other cardiovascular events during the most dangerous period of 6–18 months following a major cardiovascular event and the risk of subsequent collapse. The combination of time and lake size provides the basis for future research to find more vulnerable people. Pathologically, SCD can be seen as an interaction between some electrophysiological events that causes abnormalities in cardiac structure, temporal dysfunction, and malignant arrhythmias. Structural deformities represent an anatomical matrix of chronic risk and include the effects of electrophysiological anatomical abnormalities such as coronary artery disease, left ventricular hypertrophy, myopathic ventricles, and bypass leaflets in the myocardium. Conclusion: Macroscopic cardiac features are common in about one-third of young SCD victims. However, in 79% of them, histological studies reveal hidden pathological features such as local myocarditis, heart disease and motor system disorders. A total of 16 (6%) victims had no evidence of systemic heart disease and the mechanism of SCD was not described.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1155
Author(s):  
Meihui Tian ◽  
Zhipeng Cao ◽  
Hao Pang

The prevention and diagnosis of sudden cardiac death (SCD) are among the most important keystones and challenges in clinical and forensic practice. However, the diagnostic value of the current biomarkers remains unresolved issues. Therefore, novel diagnostic biomarkers are urgently required to identify patients with early-stage cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and to assist in the postmortem diagnosis of SCD cases without typical cardiac damage. An increasing number of studies show that circular RNAs (circRNAs) have stable expressions in myocardial tissue, and their time- and tissue-specific expression levels might reflect the pathophysiological status of the heart, which makes them potential CVD biomarkers. In this article, we briefly introduced the biogenesis and functional characteristics of circRNAs. Moreover, we described the roles of circRNAs in multiple SCD-related diseases, including coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial ischemia or infarction, arrhythmia, cardiomyopathy, and myocarditis, and discussed the application prospects and challenges of circRNAs as a novel biomarker in the clinical and forensic diagnosis of SCD.


Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Grosse-Wortmann ◽  
Laurine van der Wal ◽  
Aswathy Vaikom House ◽  
Lee Benson ◽  
Raymond Chan

Introduction: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) has been shown to be an independent predictor of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The clinical significance of LGE in pediatric HCM patients is unknown. Hypothesis: LGE improves the SCD risk prediction in children with HCM. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the CMR images and reviewed the outcomes pediatric HCM patients. Results: Amongst the 720 patients from 30 centers, 73% were male, with a mean age of 14.2±4.8 years. During a mean follow up of 2.6±2.7 years (range 0-14.8 years), 34 experienced an episode of SCD or equivalent. LGE (Figure 1A) was present in 34%, with a mean burden of 14±21g, or 2.5±8.2g/m2 (6.2±7.7% of LV myocardium). The presence of ≥1 adult traditional risk factor (family history of SCD, syncope, LV thickness >30mm, non-sustained ventricular tachycardia on Holter) was associated with an increased risk of SCD (HR=4.6, p<0.0001). The HCM Risk-Kids score predicted SCD (p=0.002). The presence of LGE was strongly associated with an increased risk (HR=3.8, p=0.0003), even after adjusting for traditional risk factors (HR adj =3.2, p=0.003) or the HCM Risk-Kids score (HR adj =3.5, p=0.003). Furthermore, the burden of LGE was associated with increased risk (HR=2.1/10% LGE, p<0.0001). LGE burden remained independently associated with an increased risk for SCD after adjusting for traditional risk factors (HRadj=1.5/10% LGE, p=0.04) or HCM Risk-Kids (HRadj=1.9/10% LGE, p=0.0018, Figure 1B). The addition of LGE burden improved the predictive model using traditional risk markers (C statistic 0.67 vs 0.77, p=0.003) and HCM Risk-Kids (C statistic 0.68 vs 0.74, p=0.045). Conclusions: Quantitative LGE is an independent risk factor for SCD in pediatric patients with HCM and improves the performance of traditional risk markers and the HCM Risk-Kids Score for SCD risk stratification in this population.


Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Zhao ◽  
Eliseo Guallar ◽  
Elena Blasco-Colmenares ◽  
Nona Sotoodehnia ◽  
Wendy Post

Background: In hospital-based studies and in studies of participants with pre-existing conditions, African Americans have a higher risk of in- and out-of-hospital sudden cardiac death (SCD) compared with Whites. However, the risk of SCD of African Americans and Whites has never been compared in large-scale community-based cohort studies. Objective: To compare the risk of SCD among African Americans and Whites, and to evaluate the risk factors that may explain racial differences in incidence. Methods: Cohort study of 3,838 African Americans and 11,245 Whites participating in ARIC. Race was self-reported. SCD cases were defined as a sudden pulseless condition from a cardiac cause in a previously stable individual and adjudicated by an expert committee. Mediation effect of covariates was calculated using boot-strapping method. Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for demographics, social economic status, cardiovascular (CVD), and electrocardiographic risk factors. Results: The mean (SD) age was 53.6 (5.8) for African Americans and 54.4 (5.7) years for Whites. During 25.3 years of follow-up, 215 African Americans and 332 Whites experienced SCD. In multivariable-adjusted models, the HRs (95% CI) for SCD comparing African Americans and Whites were 1.70 (1.37, 2.10) overall, 2.00 (1.40, 2.84) in women, and 1.46 (1.10, 1.92) in men (p-value for race by sex interaction 0.02; Table ). CVD and electrocardiographic risk factors explained 36.6% (21.4, 51.8%) of the excess risk of SCD in African Americans, with a large proportion of racial differences unexplained. Conclusions: The risk of SCD in community-dwelling African Americans was significantly higher than in Whites, particularly among women. CVD risk factors, including higher prevalence of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and LV hypertrophy in African Americans, explained only a small fraction of this difference. Further research is needed to identify factors responsible for race differences in SCD and to implement prevention strategies in high-risk minorities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Jacques Monsuez ◽  
Marilucy Lopez-Sublet

: Persons living with HIV infection (PLWH) have been recognized to have an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Prevention of this risk should theoretically be included in their long-term management. However, only a few approaches have been proposed to optimize such interventions. Targeting detection of the commonly associated conditions such as coronary artery disease, left ventricular dysfunction, heart failure, QT interval prolongation and ventricular arrhythmias is the first step of this prevention. However, although detection of the risk of SCD is a suitable challenge in PLWH, it remains uncertain whether optimized treatment of the identified risks would unequivocally translate into a decrease in SCD rates.


Author(s):  
Paul D. Thompson

Regular physical activity reduces atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) events including acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Conversely, vigorous exercise acutely and transiently increases the risk of both these CAD events in adult athletes with known or occult CAD. CAD is the cause of most exercise-related SCDs in adult athletes. Exercise-related AMIs are typically caused by atherosclerotic plaque rupture and acute thrombosis, whereas exercise-related SCD can be caused by both plaque rupture and exercise-induce ischaemia. The management of athletes with CAD requires aggressive risk factor reduction plus an assessment of risk for an acute cardiac event based on exercise testing, ventricular function measurement, and an assessment of electrical stability. Whether or not an athlete should return to competition after a CAD event is a joint decision made by the athlete and the clinician based on the risks and benefits of athletic participation for that athlete.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J T Rahola ◽  
A M Kiviniemi ◽  
O H Ukkola ◽  
M P Tulppo ◽  
M J Junttila ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The possible relationship between temporal variability of electrocardiographic spatial heterogeneity of repolarisation and the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is not completely understood. Purpose To investigate the prognostic value of temporal variability of T-wave spatial heterogeneity in SCD in patients with CAD. Methods The Innovation to reduce Cardiovascular Complications of Diabetes at the Intersection (ARTEMIS) study population consisted of 1,946 patients with angiographically verified CAD. T-wave morphology dispersion (TMD), which estimates the average angle between all reconstruction vector pairs in T-wave loop based on leads I-II and V2-V6, was analysed on beat-to-beat basis from 10 minutes period of the baseline electrocardiographic recording in 1,678 study subjects. The temporal variability of TMD was evaluated by standard deviation of TMD (TMD-SD). Results After on average of 7.4±2.0 years of follow-up, a total of 47 of the 1,678 study subjects (2.8%) had experienced SCD or were resuscitated from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). TMD-SD was significantly higher in patients who had experienced SCD/SCA compared with those who remained alive (3.64±2.57 vs. 2.65±2.54, p<0.01, respectively), but did not differ significantly between the patients who had experienced non-sudden cardiac death (n=40, 2.4%) and those who remained alive (2.98±2.43 vs. 2.67±2.55, p=0.45, respectively) or between the patients who succumbed to non-cardiac death (n=88, 5,2%) and those who stayed alive (2.74±2.44 vs. 2.67±2.55, p=0.81). After adjustments with relevant clinical risk indicators of SCD/SCA, such as left ventricular ejection fraction, diabetes, left bundle branch block and Canadian Cardiac Society class, TMD-SD still predicted SCD/SCA (HR 1.113, 95% CIs 1.028–1.206, p<0.01). The discrimination and reclassification accuracy increased significantly (p=0.02, p=0.033) and the C-index increased from 0.733 to 0.741 when TMD-SD was added to the clinical risk model of SCD/SCA. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves show proportional probabilities of event-free survival for different modes of death for patients classified according to the optimised TMD-SD cut-off point (Figure). Figure 1 Conclusions Temporal variability of electrocardiographic spatial heterogeneity of repolarisation represented by TMD-SD independently predicts long-term risk of SCD/SCA in patients with CAD. Acknowledgement/Funding Sigrid Juselius Foundation and Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research


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