Sudden Cardiac Death in Young Adults

Abstract

Sudden cardiac death is defined as death from unexpected circulatory arrest resulting from  cardiac arrhythmia which occurs within one hour of the onset of symptoms. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy  (HCM) is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes in the United States and the most  common genetic cardiovascular disorder. HCM is characterized by a heavy muscular hyper contracting  heart and is a diastolic disorder of heart with asymmetric hypertrophy of ventricular septum. HCM is  mostly asymptomatic until sudden cardiac death occurs. Sudden death due to cardiac failure is the most  common cause of death and particularly likely in young males with familial HCM or with a family history of  sudden death. Major risk factors for sudden death in individuals with Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy  include prior history of cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation, spontaneous sustained ventricular  tachycardia, family history of premature sudden death, unexplained syncope, left ventricular thickness  more than or equal to 30mm, abnormal exercise blood pressure and non-sustained ventricular  tachycardia. We are hereby reporting few rare cases of sudden cardiac deaths, the bodies of which were  brought to the mortuary of S.C.B Medical College, Cuttack for autopsy.