*Associate Professor, Dept. of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Padmashree Dr DY Patil Medical College Hospital & Research Centre, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, 400706 E-mail: dramp1976@gmail.com
**Assist. Prof., Dept. of Pathology, Topiwala National Medical College & B Y L Nair Ch Hospital, Mumbai Central, Mumbai-8
***Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Pathology
Online published on 17 August, 2012.
Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) is characterized by progressive fibrofatty replacement of the myocardium that predisposes to ventricular tachycardia and sudden death in young individuals and athletes. The prevalence of ARVD/C is estimated as 1:1000 to 1:1250 in the general population. Although it is a relatively uncommon cause of sudden cardiac death, it accounts for up to one fifth of sudden cardiac death in people less than 35 years of age. Clinical presentation of ARVD/C usually consists of arrhythmias of right ventricular origin that include premature ventricular beats, sustained ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation that can lead to sudden death.
The authors present a case of a 26 year old young male, carpenter by occupation, previously healthy, with sudden death. The internal and external postmortem findings were normal except for mild right ventricular hypertrophy. But histo-pathological examination of heart tissues revealed replacement of myocardial tissue with mature fibrofatty tissue. The following medico-legal autopsy case is being reported for its rarity and the importance of histopathology to find out the cause of death.
Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C), sudden death
