Risk Factors of Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young

Abstract

Sports was a trigger of SCA in a minority of cases, and, in most patients, SCA occurred without warning symptoms. Standard cardiovascular risk factors were found in over half of patients, suggesting the potential role of public health approaches that screen for cardiovascular risk factors at earlier ages.

Epidemiology of Sudden Cardiac Death: Global and Regional Perspectives

“…Somewhat unexpectedly, this is also the case amongst the young; 58% of subjects aged 5 to 34 years of age who experienced SCD in the Oregon Sudden Cardiac Death Study had at least one cardiovascular risk factor [50]. Moreover, there was a 39% prevalence of obesity in these young individuals [50]. Family history of SCD may also represent a risk factor for SCD [51].…”

“…Coronary heart disease risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, cigarette smoking, and obesity are predictive of SCD in men and in women [2,49]. Somewhat unexpectedly, this is also the case amongst the young; 58% of subjects aged 5 to 34 years of age who experienced SCD in the Oregon Sudden Cardiac Death Study had at least one cardiovascular risk factor [50]. Moreover, there was a 39% prevalence of obesity in these young individuals [50].…”

“…Even amongst the young, CHD is a relatively common cause of SCD. In the Oregon Sudden Cardiac Death Study, CHD was the second most common condition (22%) underlying SCD among subjects aged 5 to 34 years [50]. The spectrum of substrates underlying CHD-related SCD include transient ischaemia, acute coronary syndromes, scar-related pathophysiology, and ischaemic cardiomyopathies [61].…”

To screen or not to screen, what do the Pacific Island athletes teach us?

“…In fact, the majority of cardiac arrests even among the young struck those with traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Survival from sports related cardiac arrest was also significantly better compared to cardiac arrest in non-sports settings [10]. Thus, SCD prevention efforts should not be confined only to athletes, but to all subgroups at high risk, such as relatives of sudden cardiac arrest victims and those with familial cardiac disease, cardiac symptoms or cardiovascular risk factors.…”

(Sudden cardiac arrest/death during sports)

“…9 Sportovní aktivita je bezprostřední příčinou NSS v 39 % případů u jedinců mladších 18 let, v 13 % případů u jedinců ve věku 19-25 let, ale jen v 7 % případů u jedinců ve věku 25-34 let. 10 U sportovců NSS nastává častěji při sportu než v populaci nesportovců, ale většina náhlých úmrtí asociovaných s pohybem nastává během rekreačního sportu, a nikoli sportu výkonnostního a vrcholového. 11 Přežití po mimonemocniční zástavě má lepší prognózu, pokud nastane během sportovní aktivity.…”