A Five Year Analysis of Sudden Death Cases at a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India–A Postmortem Study

Abstract

Introduction: Sudden Death (SD) is defined by WHO as death within 24 hours from the onset of symptoms. Cardiac causes form most of the cases and acute myocardial infarction is the common cause of mortality. There is limited data in Indian literature. Aim: To study and analyse the different morphological features of SDs at postmortem examination. Materials and Methods: The present retrospective crosssectional study was conducted in Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Karnataka, India. All autopsy cases of SD from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2017 were collected from the archives of Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department. The sociodemographic data of each case was noted. The autopsied specimens were examined grossly and the histomorphological findings were noted. Results: In five years, 11 cases underwent autopsy for SD. Only 10 (91%) out of 11 cases were males. Mean age of the cases was 44.36 years (standard deviation, 4.35). In 9 (81%) cases SD was attributed to cardiac causes. Only 1 (9.09%) case had a hepatic cause. One case (9.09%) had no demonstrable cardiac or non cardiac pathology. Out of the 9 cardiac cases, atheromatous plaque was seen in 5 (55.5%) cases ranging from American Heart Association (AHA) Grade 2 to Grade 5. Myocardial infarction was seen in 2 (22.2%) out of 9 cases. Intraventricular thrombus was seen in 3 (33.3%) out of 9 cases. Out of 9 cardiac cases, pulmonary congestion was seen in 2 (22.2%) cases. Conclusion: Cardiac factors are the major cause of SD. Awareness regarding preventive measures and affordable interventions should be made available by the health authorities.

Keywords

• autopsy study
• postmortem examination
• sudden death in adults