Causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians.
Introduction The risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD) increases with ageing. Methods We evaluated causes and characteristics of unexpected SCD in SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years in a consecutive series of 5,869 SCD victims in Northern Finland. All the victims underwent medico-legal autopsy as medico-lega...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:75b3aa281b2c455699439a7e71271511 2023-06-11T04:15:20+02:00 Causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians. Elisa Puolitaival Juha Vähätalo Lauri Holmström M Anette E Haukilahti Lasse Pakanen Olavi H Ukkola M Juhani Junttila Heikki V Huikuri Juha S Perkiömäki 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284515 https://doaj.org/article/75b3aa281b2c455699439a7e71271511 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284515 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0284515 https://doaj.org/article/75b3aa281b2c455699439a7e71271511 PLoS ONE, Vol 18, Iss 4, p e0284515 (2023) Medicine R Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284515 2023-05-07T00:33:56Z Introduction The risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD) increases with ageing. Methods We evaluated causes and characteristics of unexpected SCD in SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years in a consecutive series of 5,869 SCD victims in Northern Finland. All the victims underwent medico-legal autopsy as medico-legal autopsy is mandatory in cases of unexpected sudden death in Finland. All the non-cardiac deaths such as pulmonary embolism and cerebral hemorrhage were excluded from the study, as were unnatural deaths such as intoxications. Results Among SCD victims ≥ 80 years, 91.0% of SCDs were due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) determined in autopsy and 9.0% due to non-ischemic heart disease (NIHD), whereas among those < 80 years, only 72.6% of SCDs were due to IHD and 27.4% due to NIHD (P < .001). Severe fibrosis in myocardium was more common whereas heart weight and liver weight, body mass index and abdominal fat thickness, were lower among SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years than among victims aged < 80 years. In those with IHD as etiology of SCD, at least 75% stenosis in one or more major coronary vessels was more common in SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years than among victims aged < 80 years (P = .001). SCD victims 80 years or older were less likely to die during physical activity than those under 80 years old (5.6% vs. 15.9%, P < .001). Dying in sauna was more common among those ≥ 80 years than among those < 80 years (5.5% vs. 2.6%, P < .001). Conclusion In victims of unexpected SCD aged ≥ 80 years, the autopsy-based etiology of SCD was more commonly IHD than in those aged < 80 years. In SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years, severe fibrosis in myocardium, representing arrhythmic substrate, was more common than in the younger ones. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Finland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 18 4 e0284515 |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Elisa Puolitaival Juha Vähätalo Lauri Holmström M Anette E Haukilahti Lasse Pakanen Olavi H Ukkola M Juhani Junttila Heikki V Huikuri Juha S Perkiömäki Causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians. |
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Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Introduction The risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD) increases with ageing. Methods We evaluated causes and characteristics of unexpected SCD in SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years in a consecutive series of 5,869 SCD victims in Northern Finland. All the victims underwent medico-legal autopsy as medico-legal autopsy is mandatory in cases of unexpected sudden death in Finland. All the non-cardiac deaths such as pulmonary embolism and cerebral hemorrhage were excluded from the study, as were unnatural deaths such as intoxications. Results Among SCD victims ≥ 80 years, 91.0% of SCDs were due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) determined in autopsy and 9.0% due to non-ischemic heart disease (NIHD), whereas among those < 80 years, only 72.6% of SCDs were due to IHD and 27.4% due to NIHD (P < .001). Severe fibrosis in myocardium was more common whereas heart weight and liver weight, body mass index and abdominal fat thickness, were lower among SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years than among victims aged < 80 years. In those with IHD as etiology of SCD, at least 75% stenosis in one or more major coronary vessels was more common in SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years than among victims aged < 80 years (P = .001). SCD victims 80 years or older were less likely to die during physical activity than those under 80 years old (5.6% vs. 15.9%, P < .001). Dying in sauna was more common among those ≥ 80 years than among those < 80 years (5.5% vs. 2.6%, P < .001). Conclusion In victims of unexpected SCD aged ≥ 80 years, the autopsy-based etiology of SCD was more commonly IHD than in those aged < 80 years. In SCD victims aged ≥ 80 years, severe fibrosis in myocardium, representing arrhythmic substrate, was more common than in the younger ones. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elisa Puolitaival Juha Vähätalo Lauri Holmström M Anette E Haukilahti Lasse Pakanen Olavi H Ukkola M Juhani Junttila Heikki V Huikuri Juha S Perkiömäki |
author_facet |
Elisa Puolitaival Juha Vähätalo Lauri Holmström M Anette E Haukilahti Lasse Pakanen Olavi H Ukkola M Juhani Junttila Heikki V Huikuri Juha S Perkiömäki |
author_sort |
Elisa Puolitaival |
title |
Causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians. |
title_short |
Causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians. |
title_full |
Causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians. |
title_fullStr |
Causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians. |
title_sort |
causes and characteristics of unexpected sudden cardiac death in octogenarians/nonagenarians. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284515 https://doaj.org/article/75b3aa281b2c455699439a7e71271511 |
genre |
Northern Finland |
genre_facet |
Northern Finland |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 18, Iss 4, p e0284515 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284515 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0284515 https://doaj.org/article/75b3aa281b2c455699439a7e71271511 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284515 |
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PLOS ONE |
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