title: Sudden deaths: cardiac and non-cardiac in children in Accra.
abstract: Sixteen (16) paediatric patients have suffered sudden deaths in Accra, Ghana over the last 15 years from 1980 to 1994. There were eight (8) females and 8 (eight) males involved; the M:F ratio is 1:1. Eight (8) of them were known heart disease patients; six (6) were not known to have any chronic illness, one had sickle cell anaemia and the other had abdominal tuberculosis. Cardiac: non-cardiac ratio is 1:1 in this report. The overall frequency of sudden deaths among children this author alone has been associated with, in Accra to date is about one per year.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014504:Urban Health