In this article, we will discuss the Common Causes of Sudden Cardiac Death. So, let’s get started.
Causes
1. Coronary artery diseases (80%)
- Myocardial ischemia
- Acute MI or healed MI
- Previous MI with myocardial scarring
- Anomalous coronary artery anatomy
2. Myocardial diseases
- Ventricular hypertrophy, e.g. LVH, RVH, CHF
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, e.g. obstructive and nonobstructive
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Inflammatory or infiltrative diseases, e.g. myocarditis, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia
3. Valvular heart diseases
- Aortic stenosis/regurgitation
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Endocarditis
4. Congenital heart diseases
- Stenotic lesions (aortic or pulmonary)
- Eisenmenger’s syndrome
- Postoperative repair of Fallot’s tetralogy
5. Nonstructural heart disease (e.g. electrophysiological abnormalities)
- Prolonged QT syndrome (congenital or acquired)
- Brugada syndrome. It is characterised by a defect in sodium channels function and an abnormal ECG (RBBB and ST elevation V1 and V2 without prolongation of QT interval)
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (Kent bundle conduction)
- Adverse drug reactions leading to torsade de pointes
- Electrolyte disturbances (severe hypokalemia)
- Acid-base disturbance, e.g. severe acidosis
6. Miscellaneous
- Massive pulmonary embolism, air embolism
- Aortic dissection
- Cafe coronary
Potentially reversible causes of cardiac arrest
- Hypovolemia
- Hypoxia
- Hypo or hyperkalemia
- Hypothermia
- Thromboembolism
- Tension pneumothorax
- Tamponade
- Toxic disturbance or therapeutic disturbances