Increase in sudden death from coronary artery disease in young adults

Background Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the most common cause of death in adults aged Methods We selected all the autopsies referred to the Montreal Heart Institute and Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital from January 2002 to December 2006 that corresponded to individuals Results From a total of 1,260 autopsies, 243 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Coronary artery disease was the main cause of SCD from age 20 years, representing the 37% of deaths in the group of 21 to 30 years old, and up to 80% of deaths in the group of 31 to 40 years old. Among individuals who died of CAD, 3-vessel disease was observed in 39.7% of cases. Moreover, among the whole population 2 , 95% CI 1.01-1.1) and hypercholesterolemia (hazard ratio 2.4, 95% CI 1.7-333.3) showed to be the modifiable factors related to an increased risk of SD from CAD. Conclusions In our population, CAD was the main cause of SD from age 20 years. These data bring into question whether present prevention strategies are sufficient and reinforce the need to extend prevention to younger ages.