Skip to main content

Abstract

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is unexpected natural death due to cardiac causes, with abrupt loss of consciousness within 1 h of the onset of acute symptoms, with or without pre-existing heart disease. It is very hard to assess the exact incidence of SCD because of variability in the definition of the concept of “sudden” [1,2]. We are not discussing death occurring 1 h after syncope in a healthy subject, but the definition is not completely clear in a cardiopathic patient with ventricular fibrillation as the end-stage event in a worsened clinical status.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Stoupel E, Jottrand M (2001) Sudden cardiac death. Rev Med Brux 22: 488–498

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Myerburg RJ, Castellanos A (2001) Cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death. In: Braunwald E, Zipes DP, Libby P (ed) Heart disease: a textbook of cardiovascular medicine, 6th edn. Elsevier Science, New York

    Google Scholar 

  3. Myerburg RJ (2001) Sudden cardiac death: exploring the limits of our knowledge. J Cardiovasc Electrophisiol 12:369–381

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Myerburg RJ, Interian A Jr, Mitrani RM, Kessler KM, Castellanos A (1997) Frequency of sudden cardiac death and profiles of risk. Am J Cardiol 80(5B):10F–19F

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Myerburg RJ, Kessler KM, Castellanos A (1993) Sudden cardiac death: epidemiology, transient risk and intervention assessment. Ann Intern Med 119:1187–1197

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Goldstein MR (2001) Sudden death due to cardiac arrhythmias. N Engl J Med 345:1473–1482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kannel WB, Schatzkin A (1985) Sudden death: lessons from subsets in population studies. J Am Coll Cardiol 5(6 Suppl):141B–149B

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Smith SC Jr, Blair SN, Bonow RO et al (2001) AHA/ACC Scientific Statement. AHA/ACC guidelines for preventing heart attack and death in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: 2001 update: a statement for health care professionals from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. Circulation 104:1577–1579

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Solomon SD, Antman E (1993) Prehospital thrombolytic therapy for myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med 329:383–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Disertori M, Dallafior D, Marini M (2001) Arrhythmia risk stratification based on etiological and anatomo-structural factors. Ital Heart J 2(12 Suppl):1265–1269

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sweeney MO (2001) Sudden death in heart failure associated with reduced left ventricular function: substrates, mechanisms and evidence-based management. Part I. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol 24:871–888

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Bigger JT Jr, Fleiss JL, Kleiger R, Miller JP, Rolnitzky LM (1984) The relationships among ventricular arrhyhtmias, left ventricular dysfunction and mortality in the 2 years after myocardial infarction. Circulation 69:250–258

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Kjekshus J (1990) Arrhythmia and mortality in congestive heart failure. Am J Cardiol 65:42-I

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zipes DP, Wellens HJ (1998) Sudden cardiac death. Circulation 98:2334–2351

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Anonymous (1997) Effect of prophylactic amiodarone on mortality after acute myocardial infarction and in congestive heart failure: meta-analysis of individual data from 6500 patients in randomized trials. Amiodarone Trials Meta-Analysis Investigators. Lancet 350:1417–1424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Domanski MJ, Exner DV, Borkowf CB, Geller NL, Rosenberg Y, Pfeffer MA (1999) Effect of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition on sudden cardiac death in patients following acute myocardial infarction. A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. J Am Coll Cardiol 33:598–604

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Kim D, Duff RA (1990) Regulation of K+ channels in cardiac myocytes by free fatty acids. Circ Res 67:1040–1046

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Pound EM, Kang JX, Leaf A (2001) Partitioning of polyunsatured fatty acids, which prevent cardiac arrhythmias, into phospholipid cell membranes. J Lipid Res 42:346–351

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Leaf A (2001) Electrophysiologic basis for the antiarrhythmic and anticonvulsant effects of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. World Rev Nutr Diet 88:72–78

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. De Caterina R, Madonna R (2002) Antiarrhythmic effects of omega-3 fatty acids. A review. Ital Heart J 3(3 Suppl):297–308

    Google Scholar 

  21. Lundmark K, Abelnoor M, Urdal P et al (1998) Use of fish oils appears to reduce infarct size as estimated from peak creatinekinase and loctate dehydrogenase activities. Cardiology 89:94–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Christensen JH, Dyerberg J, Schmidt EB (1999) n-3 fatty acids and the risk of sudden cardiac death assessed by 24-hour heart rate variability. Lipids 34[Suppl]:S197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Christensen JH, Kroup E, Aaroe J, Toft E, Moller J, Rasmussen K, Dyerberg J, Schmidt EB (1997) Fish consumption, n-3 fatty acids in cell membranes, and heart rate variability in survivors of myocardial infarction with left ventricular dysfunction. Am J Cardiol 79:1670–1673

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Christensen HJ, Skou HA, Fog L, Hansen V, Vesterlund T, Dyerberg J, Toft E, Schmidt EB (2001) Marine n-3 fatty acids, wine intake, and heart rate variability in patients referred for coronary angiography. Circulation 103:651–657

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Christensen JH, Skou HA, Madsen T, Torring I, Schmidt EB (2001) Heart rate variability and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in patients with diabetes mellitus. J Intern Med 249:545–552

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Barron HV, Viskin S (1998) Autonomic markers and prediction of cardiac death after myocardial infarction. Lancet 351:461–462

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Xiao YF, Wright SN, Wang JK, Morgan JP, Leaf A (2000) Coexpression with beta(1) subunit modifies the kinetics and fatty acid block of hHl (alpha) Na+ channels. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 279:H35–46

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Bendahhou S, Cummins TR, Agnew WS (1997) Mechanism of modulation of the voltage-gated skeletal and cardiac muscle sodium channels by fatty acids. Am J Physiol 272(2Pt 1):C592–600

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Pepe S, Bogdanov K, Hallaq H, Spurgeon H, Leaf A, Lakatta E (1994) Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids modulate dihydropiridine effects on L-type Ca2+ channels, cytosolic Ca2+ and contraction in adult rat cardiac myocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91(19): 8832–8836

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Kris-Etherton PM, Harris WS, Appel LJ (2002) Fish consumption, fish oil, omega-3 fatty acids, and cardiovascular disease. Circulation 106: 2747–2757

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2003 Springer-Verlag Italia

About this paper

Cite this paper

Nodari, S., Metra, M., Pezzali, N., Giovannelli, C., Milesi, G., Cas, L.D. (2003). Physiopathology of Sudden Cardiac Death. In: Gulizia, M. (eds) New Advances in Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2087-0_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2087-0_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

  • Print ISBN: 978-88-470-2169-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-88-470-2087-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics