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The American Journal of Cardiology Feb 2024Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a complex, heterogeneous disorder that affects approximately 1 in every 500 persons worldwide and about 750,000 Americans. It is... (Review)
Review
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a complex, heterogeneous disorder that affects approximately 1 in every 500 persons worldwide and about 750,000 Americans. It is characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy that is usually asymmetric, with enlarged myocytes in disarray, unexplained by loading conditions. Obstruction to left ventricular outflow occurs in approximately 60% of patients. The natural history and cardiac morphology of HCM are quite heterogeneous. Although most patients with HCM are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, a minority are disabled by dyspnea, angina, or syncope, develop advanced heart failure, or die suddenly.
Topics: Humans; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic; Death, Sudden, Cardiac; Heart Failure; Heart Ventricles; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular; Syncope
PubMed: 38368032
DOI: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2023.10.075 -
Italian Journal of Pediatrics Jun 2023Drowning is the third leading cause of injury death in the pediatric population worldwide, with incidence peaking among those aged 1-4 years and again in adolescence.The... (Review)
Review
Drowning is the third leading cause of injury death in the pediatric population worldwide, with incidence peaking among those aged 1-4 years and again in adolescence.The purpose of this commentary is to review the basic pathophysiology of drowninginjury and factors that affect the outcome, such as submersion and hypothermia. We also discuss principles of prehospital and in-hospital management, comprising resuscitation and stabilization, administration of oxygen and intravenous liquids, and central reheating.Even though the mortality rate has decreased in recent years, further investments and safety measures are needed to prevent child drowning deaths.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Child; Drowning; Resuscitation; Oxygen
PubMed: 37316902
DOI: 10.1186/s13052-023-01464-1 -
Pediatrics May 2021Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) represents a broad group of explained and unexplained infant deaths (<1 year old). Explaining why SUID occurs is critical to...
BACKGROUND
Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) represents a broad group of explained and unexplained infant deaths (<1 year old). Explaining why SUID occurs is critical to understanding etiology and prevention. Death certificate data cannot differentiate explained from unexplained SUID cases nor describe the surrounding circumstances. We report SUID rates by explained and unexplained categories and describe demographics and history of recent injury or illness using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention SUID Case Registry.
METHODS
The registry is a population-based surveillance system built on Child Death Review programs. Data are derived from multiple sources, including death certificates, scene investigations, and autopsy reports. Cases included SUIDs reported by states or jurisdictions participating in the registry during 2011-2017. Cases were classified into explained and unexplained categories by using the registry's classification system. Frequencies, percentages, and mortality rates per 100 000 live births were calculated.
RESULTS
Of the 4929 SUID cases, 82% were categorized as unexplained. Among all cases, 73% had complete case information. Most SUIDs (72%) occurred in an unsafe sleep environment. The SUID mortality rate was 97.3 per 100 000 live births. Among explained and possible suffocation deaths, ∼75% resulted from airway obstruction attributed to soft bedding.
CONCLUSIONS
Unsafe sleep factors were common in explained and unexplained SUID cases, but deaths could only be classified as explained suffocation for ∼20% of cases. Further analysis of unexplained deaths, including continued improvements to death scene investigation and documentation, may generate hypotheses for physiologic and genetic research, advance our understanding of gaps in SUID investigation, and enhance our understanding of infants at highest risk.
Topics: Humans; Infant; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Registries; Sudden Infant Death; United States
PubMed: 33906930
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2020-035873 -
European Heart Journal Dec 2022At least 50% of deaths due to coronary artery disease (CAD) are sudden cardiac deaths (SCDs), but the role of acute plaque complications on the incidence of sudden death...
AIMS
At least 50% of deaths due to coronary artery disease (CAD) are sudden cardiac deaths (SCDs), but the role of acute plaque complications on the incidence of sudden death in CAD is somewhat unclear. The present study aimed to investigate plaque histology and concomitant myocardial disease in sudden coronary death.
METHODS AND RESULTS
The study population is derived from the Fingesture study, which has collected data from 5869 consecutive autopsy-verified SCD victims in Northern Finland (population ≈600 000) between 1998 and 2017. In this substudy, histological examination of culprit lesions was performed in 600 SCD victims whose death was due to CAD. Determination of the cause of death was based on the combination of medical records, police reports, and autopsy data. Plaque histology was classified as either (i) plaque rupture or erosion, (ii) intraplaque haemorrhage, or (iii) stable plaque. The mean age of the study subjects was 64.9 ± 11.2 years, and 82% were male. Twenty-four per cent had plaque rupture or plaque erosion, 24% had an intraplaque haemorrhage, and 52% had a stable plaque. Myocardial hypertrophy was present in 78% and myocardial fibrosis in 93% of victims. The presence of myocardial hypertrophy or fibrosis was not associated with specific plaque histology.
CONCLUSION
Less than half of sudden deaths due to CAD had evidence of acute plaque complication, an observation which is contrary to historical perceptions. The prevalence of concomitant myocardial disease was high and independent of associated plaque morphology.
Topics: Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Aged; Female; Death, Sudden, Cardiac; Plaque, Atherosclerotic; Coronary Artery Disease; Cardiomyopathies; Hemorrhage; Hypertrophy; Risk Factors
PubMed: 36172703
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac533 -
Danish Medical Journal Aug 2021Although women rarely die during pregnancy and childbirth in Denmark, keeping track of the maternal mortality rate and causes of death is vital in identifying learning...
INTRODUCTION
Although women rarely die during pregnancy and childbirth in Denmark, keeping track of the maternal mortality rate and causes of death is vital in identifying learning points for future management of critical illness among obstetric patients and in pinpointing risk factors.
METHODS
We identified maternal deaths between 2002 and 2017 by linking four Danish national health registers, using death certificates and reports from hospitals. An audit group then categorised each case by cause of death before identifying any suboptimal care and learning points, which may serve as a foundation for national guidelines and educational strategies.
RESULTS
Seventy women died during pregnancy or within six weeks of a pregnancy in the study period. The most frequent causes of death were cardiovascular disease (n = 14), hypertensive disorder (n = 10), suicide (n = 10) and thromboembolism (n = 7). Suboptimal care was identified in 30 of the 70 cases.
CONCLUSIONS
Mortality from some of the most important causes of death decreased during the study period. No deaths from preeclampsia or thrombosis, two of the leading causes of death, were identified after 2011. In 2015-2017, suicide was the main cause of maternal death, which indicates that a stronger focus on vulnerability in pregnancy and childbirth is essential. Among the 70 deaths, 34% were potentially avoidable, indicating that it is essential continuously to focus on how to reduce severe maternal morbidity and mortality.
FUNDING
none TRIAL REGISTRATION. not relevant.
Topics: Cardiovascular Diseases; Cause of Death; Critical Illness; Female; Humans; Maternal Death; Maternal Mortality; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Suicide
PubMed: 34477096
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of the American College of... May 2021
Topics: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; Death, Sudden, Cardiac; Humans
PubMed: 33985680
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.03.321 -
Epilepsia Open Sep 2023Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a sudden, unexpected, witnessed or unwitnessed, non-traumatic and non-drowning death, occurring in benign circumstances,... (Review)
Review
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a sudden, unexpected, witnessed or unwitnessed, non-traumatic and non-drowning death, occurring in benign circumstances, in an individual with epilepsy, with or without evidence for a seizure and excluding documented status epilepticus in which postmortem examination does not reveal other causes of death. Lower diagnostic levels are assigned when cases met most or all of these criteria, but data suggested more than one possible cause of death. The incidence of SUDEP ranged from 0.09 to 2.4 per 1000 person-years. Differences can be attributed to the age of the study populations (with peaks in the 20-40-year age group) and the severity of the disease. Young age, disease severity (in particular, a history of generalized TCS), having symptomatic epilepsy, and the response to antiseizure medications (ASMs) are possible independent predictors of SUDEP. The pathophysiological mechanisms are not fully known due to the limited data available and because SUDEP is not always witnessed and has been electrophysiologically monitored only in a few cases with simultaneous assessment of respiratory, cardiac, and brain activity. The pathophysiological basis of SUDEP may vary according to different circumstances that make that particular seizure, in that specific moment and in that patient, a fatal event. The main hypothesized mechanisms, which could contribute to a cascade of events, are cardiac dysfunction (included potential effects of ASMs, genetically determined channelopathies, acquired heart diseases), respiratory dysfunction (included postictal arousal deficit for the respiratory mechanism, acquired respiratory diseases), neuromodulator dysfunction, postictal EEG depression and genetic factors.
Topics: Humans; Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; Death, Sudden; Epilepsy; Seizures; Status Epilepticus; Heart Diseases
PubMed: 36896633
DOI: 10.1002/epi4.12722 -
Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi Oct 2021Investigation of the cause of death during diving is one of the contents of forensic pathology. In this article, relevant foreign literature is reviewed to summarize the... (Review)
Review
Investigation of the cause of death during diving is one of the contents of forensic pathology. In this article, relevant foreign literature is reviewed to summarize the techniques and methods used in the identification of diving deaths, such as accident reconstruction, diving monitoring data, postmortem CT examination and gas analysis (location and quantity) in the body of the corpse, in order to provide a reference for forensic identification of such cases.
Topics: Autopsy; Diving; Forensic Medicine; Forensic Pathology; Humans; Postmortem Changes
PubMed: 35187921
DOI: 10.12116/j.issn.1004-5619.2020.400501 -
BJOG : An International Journal of... Feb 2023To determine the prevalence of maternal sudden death (MSD) and to compare the characteristics of death between women with explained and unexplained sudden death.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of maternal sudden death (MSD) and to compare the characteristics of death between women with explained and unexplained sudden death.
DESIGN
A national retrospective study in France.
POPULATION
Maternal deaths related to an unexpected sudden cardiac arrest were extracted from the French National Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths database for 2007-2012.
METHODS
Maternal, pregnancy, sudden death characteristics and maternal investigations were compared between women with explained and unexplained cause of death.
RESULTS
A total of 83 maternal sudden deaths and 4 949 890 live births occurred over the period studied, thus accounting for 16% of all maternal deaths (n = 510). Death was explained in 51 (61%) women and unexplained in 32 women (39%). Compared with women with unexplained death, women with explained death were more often found to have in-hospital cardiac arrest (47% versus 12%, P < 0.01), witnessed cardiac arrest (86% versus 62%, P = 0.03) and in-hospital death (82% versus 47%, P < 0.01). Postmortem investigations such as autopsy and/or CT scan (65% versus 31%, P < 0.01) were also more often carried out in women with explained death. The proportion of deaths for which the preventability factors could not be assessed was 58% among unexplained MSD and 7% among explained MSD.
CONCLUSION
Maternal sudden death is a rare event but accounts for a high proportion of all maternal deaths. This highlights the importance of providing training in diagnostic and management strategy for care providers. Systematic postmortem investigations are required to help understand causes and improve practices.
Topics: Pregnancy; Humans; Female; Male; Retrospective Studies; Maternal Death; Hospital Mortality; Death, Sudden, Cardiac; Maternal Mortality; Cause of Death
PubMed: 36156354
DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.17294 -
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth Nov 2023To quantify the extent of incompleteness and misclassification of maternal and pregnancy related deaths, and to identify general and context-specific factors associated... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVE
To quantify the extent of incompleteness and misclassification of maternal and pregnancy related deaths, and to identify general and context-specific factors associated with incompleteness and/or misclassification of maternal death data.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic review of incompleteness and/or misclassification of maternal and pregnancy-related deaths. We conducted a narrative synthesis to identify methods used to capture and classify maternal deaths, as well as general and context specific factors affecting the completeness and misclassification of maternal death recording. We conducted a meta-analysis of proportions to obtain estimates of incompleteness and misclassification of maternal death recording, overall and disaggregated by income and surveillance system types.
FINDINGS
Of 2872 title-abstracts identified, 29 were eligible for inclusions in the qualitative synthesis, and 20 in the meta-analysis. Included studies relied principally on record linkage and review for identifying deaths, and on review of medical records and verbal autopsies to correctly classify cause of death. Deaths to women towards the extremes of the reproductive age range, those not classified by a medical examiner or a coroner, and those from minority ethnic groups in their setting were more likely misclassified or unrecorded. In the meta-analysis, we found maternal death recording to be incomplete by 34% (95% CI: 28-48), with 60% sensitivity (95% CI: 31-81.). Overall, we found maternal mortality was under-estimated by 39% (95% CI: 30-48) due to incompleteness and/or misclassification. Reporting of deaths away from the intrapartum, due to indirect causes or occurring at home were less complete than their counterparts. There was substantial between and within group variability across most results.
CONCLUSION
Maternal deaths were under-estimated in almost all contexts, but the extent varied across settings. Countries should aim towards establishing Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems where they are not instituted. Efforts to improve the completeness and accuracy of maternal cause of death recording, such as Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths, are needed even where CRVS is considered to be well-functioning.
Topics: Pregnancy; Humans; Female; Maternal Death; Maternal Mortality; Reproduction; Family; Ethnicity; Cause of Death
PubMed: 37968585
DOI: 10.1186/s12884-023-06077-4