Death sudden

Aortic valve calcification (AVC) is a common cardiovascular disease and a risk factor for sudden death. However, the potential mechanisms and effective therapeutic drugs need to be explored. Atorvastatin is a statin that can effectively prevent cardiovascular events by lowering cholesterol levels. However, whether atorvastatin can inhibit AVC by reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and its possible mechanism of action require further exploration. In the current study, we constructed an in vitro AVC model by inducing calcification of the valve interstitial cells...

Giant coronary artery aneurysm (GCA) is a rare disease afflicting 0.2% of the population. It is primarily attributed to atherosclerosis in adults and Kawasaki disease in children. Other uncommon etiologies include Takayasu arteritis and post-percutaneous coronary intervention.1,2 GCA lacks a universally accepted definition, with proposed criteria including a diameter exceeding 2 cm, 5 cm, or four times the normal vessel size.3 While the majority of GCAs are asymptomatic, a subset of patients present with angina, myocardial infarction from embolization or compression, heart failure due to fistula formation, or even sudden death...

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a type of death that occurs suddenly and without any apparent explanation, affecting infants between 28 days of life and up to a year. Recognition of this entity includes performing an autopsy to determine if there is another explanation for the event and performing both an external and internal examination of the different tissues to search for possible histopathological findings. Despite the relative success of awareness campaigns and the implementation of prevention measures, SIDS still represents one of the leading causes of death among infants worldwide...

BACKGROUND: Despite an increased incidence of chronic heart failure (HF) and sudden cardiac death (SCD), the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is much lower in Japan than in Western countries. The HF Indication and SCD Prevention Trial Japan (HINODE) prospectively assessed the mortality rate, appropriately treated ventricular arrhythmias (VA), and HF in Japanese patients with a higher risk of HF.Methods and Results: HINODE consisted of ICD, CRT-defibrillator (CRT-D), pacing, and non-device treatment cohorts...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF) is diagnosed in patients who survive sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), preferably with documented ventricular fibrillation (VF), without any identifiable structural or electrical abnormality. Current evidence provides limited guidance on the diagnosis and follow-up of these patients. Our aim was to assess the clinical outcomes of survivors of an aborted SCA attributed to IVF. METHODS: We retrospectively collected clinical data from all patients who survived SCA and implanted a cardiac defibrillator (ICD) between 2005 and 2023...

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a major public health burden worldwide with increasing morbidity and mortality. The study evaluates the risk factors associated with mortality in SCD patients, between the years 2006 and 2020 at three hospitals in Oman. The analysis includes clinical manifestations, haematological, biochemical, and radiological parameters, use of antibiotics, and blood and exchange transfusions. Our cohort included 123 patients (82 males, 41 females), with a median age of 27 (Interquartile Range 21-35 years)...

BACKGROUND: To date, the extended Morrow procedure is considered the gold standard treatment for patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who experience severe symptoms and are unresponsive to medication treatment. We therefore aimed to perform transapical intramyocardial septal microwave ablation to reduce the thickness of the interventricular septum myocardium in a minimally invasive method. METHODS: Fourteen swine were divided to form either a microwave ablation group (n = 7) or a sham group (n = 7)...

BACKGROUND: A rare gene variant in SCN5A can be found in approximately 20-25% of patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate: (1) differences in clinical characteristics of BrS patients with and without SCN5A rare variants and (2) the prognostic role of SCN5A for ventricular arrhythmias in BrS. METHODS: PubMed and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were systematically searched from inception to January 2024 to identify all relevant studies...

Nitrous oxide (N2O) has been known since the end of the eighteenth century. Today, N2O plays a huge role as a greenhouse gas and an ozone-depleting stratospheric molecule. The main sources of anthropogenic N2O emissions are agriculture, fuel combustion, wastewater treatment, and various industrial processes. By contrast, the contribution of medical N2O to the greenhouse effect appears to be small. The recreational and medical uses of N2O gradually diverged over time. N2O has analgesic and anesthetic effects, making it widely used in modern dentistry and surgery...

Page kidney is a condition where external compression of the renal artery and renal parenchyma leads to subsequent ischaemia and activation of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis. A 42-year-old female with hirsutism, hypertension and diabetes was diagnosed with a right adrenal mass and underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Her hypertension worsened postoperatively and was managed medically. Subsequently she developed a right flank pain on the fifth postoperative day and died suddenly the next day. Autopsy revealed a pale body with cushingoid appearance...

Infective endocarditis (IE) is today a public health problem, as the recent ESC Guidelines have also recalled. Abscesses can be complications of IE and their presence means that the infection is not controlled. We describe the complex case of a 57-year-old patient, presented in ED for fever and oleocranical bursitis, increase of cardiac enymes at blood samples. He was admitted to our Cardiology Unit because TTE showed a floating peduncolated formation in the left ventricle. The susequent TEE documented also the presence of a myocardial abscess, confirmed at cardiac MRI...

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Dilated cardiomyopathy is a heterogeneous entity that leads to heart failure and malignant arrhythmias. Nearly 50% of cases are inherited; therefore, genetic analysis is crucial to unravel the cause and for the early identification of carriers at risk. A large number of variants remain classified as ambiguous, impeding an actionable clinical translation. Our goal was to perform a comprehensive update of variants previously classified with an ambiguous role, applying a new algorithm of already available tools...

In forensic medicine, myocarditis is a complicated topic in the context of sudden death and medical malpractice. A good knowledge of the etiopathology, histopathology, and available literature are both indispensable and essential for the correct management and evaluation of the causal link. Some agents, which are rarely lethal for humans, are not necessarily related to death from myocarditis, even if an infection in other organs such as the gastrointestinal tract is documented. The diagnosis of the causes of death is often difficult and confusing...

Background : Ebstein anomaly (EA) is a rare congenital heart disease characterized by the apical displacement of the tricuspid leaflets, creating an enlarged functional right atrium. Supraventricular arrhythmias (SVA) are common, and catheter ablation remains challenging. SVA is considered a risk factor for sudden cardiac death in this population. Still, there are very few real-life data on the impact of SVA treated invasively or conservatively on a patient's prognosis. We aimed to analyze the incidence of SVA in adults with EA, evaluate the effectiveness of catheter ablation, and analyze the impact of SVA and catheter ablation on survival in this population...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Left ventricular arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ALVC) is a rare and poorly characterized cardiomyopathy that has recently been reclassified in the group of non-dilated left ventricular cardiomyopathies. This review aims to summarize the background, diagnosis, and sudden cardiac death risk in patients presenting this cardiomyopathy. RECENT FINDINGS: Although there is currently a lack of data on this condition, arrhythmogenic left ventricular dysplasia can be considered a specific disease of the left ventricle (LV)...

BACKGROUND: The clinical presentation of left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) varies ranging from uneventful condition to congestive heart failure. Here we report two cases of LVFWR with different clinical presentation and notable outcome. A 53-year-old male presenting emergently with signs of myocardial infarction received immediate coronary angiography and thoracic CT-scan showing occlusion of the first marginal coronary branch without possibility of revascularization and minimal pericardial extravasation...

Cardiac arrhythmias remain a major cause of death and disability. Current antiarrhythmic therapies are effective to only a limited extent, likely in large part due to their mechanism-independent approach. Precision cardiology aims to deliver targeted therapy for an individual patient to maximize efficacy and minimize adverse effects. In-silico digital twins have emerged as a promising strategy to realize the vision of precision cardiology. While there is no uniform definition of a digital twin, it typically employs digital tools, including simulations of mechanistic computer models, based on patient-specific clinical data to understand arrhythmia mechanisms and/or make clinically relevant predictions...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Fabry Disease (FD) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder characterised by multiorgan accumulation of glycosphingolipid due to deficiency in the enzyme α-galactosidase A. Cardiac sphingolipid accumulation triggers various types of arrhythmias, predominantly ventricular arrhythmia, bradyarrhythmia, and atrial fibrillation. Arrhythmia is likely the primary contributor to FD mortality with sudden cardiac death, the most frequent cardiac mode of death. Traditionally FD was seen as a storage cardiomyopathy triggering left ventricular hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction, and ultimately, systolic dysfunction in advanced disease...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of this study is to provide an update on mitral valve prolapse (MVP) and mitral annular disjunction (MAD) and who may be at risk for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. RECENT FINDINGS: MVP is generally considered a benign condition. However, a small subset of patients may be at risk for life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Among the risk factors identified in adults include patients with bileaflet mitral valves, myxomatous changes, myocardial fibrosis, and the presence of MAD...