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Definition, Epidemiology, and Pathophysiologic Mechanisms

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Book cover Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young and Athletes

Abstract

Sudden death (SD) is a natural phenomenon interrupting life instantaneously. The widely accepted definition is a death occurring unexpectedly, within 1 h from the onset of symptoms, in healthy even vigorous people or in people whose preexisting morbid conditions did not foresee such an abrupt outcome [1–18]. This temporal definition refers to witnessed SD, whereas it should be extended to 24 h for unwitnessed SD victims known to be alive and healthy one day prior to being found dead [3–7]. Since up to one third of SDs are unwitnessed, exclusion of these SDs would seriously bias a study by underrepresenting this quote. In nearly two third of cases, SD is the first cardiac event, whereas in one third it is predictable because the patient is at high risk. SD which takes place in the hospital has to be excluded, whereas that occurring in the emergency room is included.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiovascular Pathology Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy

    Gaetano Thiene & Cristina Basso

  2. Cardiology Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy

    Domenico Corrado

Authors
  1. Gaetano Thiene
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  2. Domenico Corrado
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  3. Cristina Basso
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© 2016 Springer-Verlag Milan

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Thiene, G., Corrado, D., Basso, C. (2016). Definition, Epidemiology, and Pathophysiologic Mechanisms. In: Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young and Athletes. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-5776-0_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-5776-0_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

  • Print ISBN: 978-88-470-5775-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-88-470-5776-0

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