Dr. Leslie Cooper has shared this Abstract that was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine June 23, 2016. See the highlights below and read the whole abstract below.
As many of you have so sadly realized, sudden cardiac death among children and young adults is a devastating event. A study on 490 cases of sudden cardiac death among children and young adults ages 1 to 35 years-of-age was conducted in Australia and New Zealand from 2010 through 2012.
Unexplained sudden cardiac death was the predominant finding among persons in all age groups, except for those 31 to 35 years of age, for whom coronary artery disease was the most common finding.
In this study, men and boys had a higher incidence than did women and girls, and persons 16-20 years of age had the highest incidence of unexplained sudden cardiac death.
Myocarditis was the cause of death in 7% of the cases. 40% of the cases had no definitive cause.
Unexplained sudden cardiac death is often attributed to cardiac arrhythmia which is undetectable in a conventional autopsy. Autopsy investigation combined with genetic testing and family screening was associated with a substantially higher likelihood of identifying a possible cause of death among children and young adults who had a sudden cardiac death than was autopsy investigation alone.
Thus it is key that we continue to educate the public and medical communities on myocarditis.
ABSTRACT