Sudden cardiac death - Morphological changes in myocardium and coronaries

ABSTRACT

To determine the changes in coronary arteries in patients of sudden cardiac death. Materials and Observational descriptive study was carried out at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, in year 2000 on autopsy of 58 cases with sudden cardiac death. Coronary arteries of 56 out of 58 cases revealed varying degree of atherosclerosis. 38 [65%] cases showed severe atherosclerosis. The percentage of cases below 40 years was 67% which is higher than the previous series on this subject. Left coronary artery remains the commonest artery showing significant atherosclerosis [84%] and left anterior descending coronary artery is the most frequent artery to be occluded by a thrombus. Coronary atherosclerosis was the major cause of sudden cardiac death. Decreasing age in incidence for sudden cardiac death is a worrisome cause and should be addressed with public health awareness