Exercise related sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young - Pre-mortal characterization of a Swedish nationwide cohort, showing a decline in SCD among athletes.
To study the frequency, etiology, and premortal abnormalities in exercise-related sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young in Sweden.
All subjects with SCD in 10-35-year olds in Sweden during 2000-10, were included (n?=?514). Information about each case was retrieved from death certifications, autopsy- and medical records. The number of SCD in athletes was compared to national figures from 1992-99.
Exercise-related SCD occurred in 12% (62/514) of the SCD-population, a majority being men (56/62; 90%). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was started in 87% (54/62). In total, 48% (30/62), had a cardiac diagnosis, symptoms, family history and/or ECG-changes, before the fatal event. The most prevalent autopsy diagnosis was sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (15/62; 24%). The frequency of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) was significantly higher in exercise-related SCD compared to non-exertional SCD. Exercise-related SCD was more common in athletes (21/29) than in non-athletes (41/485) (P?