Sudden Cardiac Death Prevalence, Causes, Underlying Substrates, and Triggers

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) accounts for more that 50% of cardiovascular mortality.s The incidence of SCD has progressively decreased over the last three decades and this decline parallels the reduction in the overall deaths from cardiovascular causes. Several factors may have contributed toward this trend, including the changes in dietary habits and life style, cessation of smoking, and possibly improvement in health care. Although difficult to es­ timate, contemporary cardiovascular interventions such as anti-is­ chemic drug therapy, thrombolysis, myocardial revascularization, etc., probably have made some impact in this regard. Nonetheless, it is safe to state that even now, more than 300,000 lives are lost annually in the United States due to SCDY It is estimated that more than 100,000 of these individuals are less than 65 years old.