Sudden Cardiac Death in Young Adults

Sudden cardiac death is defined as death from unexpected circulatory arrest resulting from cardiac arrhythmia which occurs within one hour of the onset of symptoms. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes in the United States and the most common genetic cardiovascular disorder. HCM is characterized by a heavy muscular hyper contracting heart and is a diastolic disorder of heart with asymmetric hypertrophy of ventricular septum. HCM is mostly asymptomatic until sudden cardiac death occurs. Sudden death due to cardiac failure is the most common cause of death and particularly likely in young males with familial HCM or with a family history of sudden death. Major risk factors for sudden death in individuals with Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include prior history of cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation, spontaneous sustained ventricular tachycardia, family history of premature sudden death, unexplained syncope, left ventricular thickness more than or equal to 30mm, abnormal exercise blood pressure and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. We are hereby reporting few rare cases of sudden cardiac deaths, the bodies of which were brought to the mortuary of S.C.B Medical College, Cuttack for autopsy.