The sudden death Heart is defined as a natural death with brutal loss of consciousness within the hour of the start of the symptoms. “” Death syndrome sudden by arrhythmia has not been sufficiently studiedDr. Matilda Frisk Torell was sorry for the University of Gothenburg during a presentation at the 2025 Congress of the European Cardiology Society. However, it is one of the most frequent causes of sudden heart death in young people, including young athletes. »
In order to determine any warning signs of this type of death, the researcher relied on the Southdy cohort (SUDden cardiac Death in the Young), bringing together 903 cases of sudden heart deaths occurring in people aged 1 to 36 in Sweden between 2000 and 2010. With her team, she examined carefully death certificates, autopsy reports, medical files, electrocardiograms (ECG) and family history.
Identifiable signs
Almost two thirds of the victims (64 %) were men, with a 23 -year -old median age. The study especially reveals alert signals that healthcare professionals could identify:
- 33 % of the victims had been hospitalized or consulted a doctor in the 6 months preceding their death
- 4.2 % had already been hospitalized for syncope (against 0.41 % in the control group)
- 3.5 % had already been hospitalized for convulsions (compared to 0.14 %)
- 11 % suffered from a known arrhythmic disease
- 18 % presented a pathological ECG, ventricular pre-excitation (premature activation of ventricles) being the most commonly observed anomaly
In addition, 52 % of the victims had presented symptoms before their death: palpitations, nausea, vomiting or signs of infection. Finally, 17 % of cases had a psychiatric diagnosis and 11 % took psychotropic drugs.
« With a better knowledge of the signs and symptoms which may precede sudden arhythmic death, we could identify young people at risk during medical consultationssoubled le dr Frisk Torell. Our results also highlight the need to study psychiatric diseases and treatments more in depth as risk factors. Consultations prior to the practice of a sport are good opportunities to better detect. »
