Proportion of ischemic and nonischemic sudden cardiac death by age and sex

• Published in: European Heart Journal
• Main Authors: Eskuri, M A E, Holmstrom, L, Vahatalo, J, Kentta, T V, Tikkanen, J, Pakanen, L, Kortelainen, M L, Perkiomaki, J, Huikuri, H V, Junttila, M J
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2023
• Subjects: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine; Northern Finland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.634; https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article-pdf/44/Supplement_2/ehad655.634/53602625/ehad655.634.pdf

Abstract Background Among women the incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD) is significant, but lower than in men. During the last decades the proportion of nonischemic SCD seems to have increased in both sexes. Coronary artery disease (CAD) have changed to be sickness of elderly women rather than middle-aged men as in women the prevalence and incidence of CAD starts to increase after the menopause. Purpose The aim of this study was to illustrate how the amount and the proportions of ischemic and nonischemic SCD vary between women and men in different age groups. Methods The Fingesture study has systematically collected clinical and autopsy data from SCD victims in Northern Finland between 1998 and 2017. The cohort consists of 5,869 SCD victims. Results Approximately one fifth of the SCD victims were women (21.1%; P<0.001). Three out of four SCDs were ischemic (74.8%; P<0.001) and majority of the ischemic SCD victims were men (79.8%; P=0.005). The mean age of female victims was 70.1±13.1 years and 63.5±11.8 years among male victims (P<0.001). Amongst women one SCD out of 15 occurred to the subject under 50 years of age (6.7%; P<0.001) whereas in men one SCD victim out of nine was under 50 years old (11.4%; P<0.001). A nonischemic SCD was observed in 350 women and in 1,127 men (P<0.001). The proportion of nonischemic death was higher among women than in men in every age group from under 30 years of age to subjects of 84 years old studied in five year periods (Figure 1). Only age group of 65-69 years in women and 60-64 years in men were not statistically significant, otherwise all the P-values were ≤0.003. The difference in proportion of ischemic and non-ischemic SCD was the smallest among subjects of 40-49 years of age amongst the proportion of ischemic SCD increased rapidly both in women and in men as the prevalence of non-ischemic SCD started to decrease (Figure 1). Amongst SCD victims aged 40-44 years 47.9% of the deaths of men (P<0.001) and 41.7% of the deaths ...