title: Sudden cardiac death: prevalence, pathogenesis, and prevention.
abstract: Sudden cardiac death (SCD), also known as sudden arrest, is a major health problem worldwide. It is usually defined as an unexpected death from a cardiac cause occurring within a short time in a person with or without preexisting heart disease. The pathogenesis of SCD is complex and multifaceted. A dynamic triggering factor usually interacts with an underlying heart disease, either genetically determined or acquired, and the final outcome is the development of lethal tachyarrhythmias or, less frequently, bradycardia. It has increasingly been highlighted that a reliable clinical and diagnostic approach might be effective to unmask the most important genetic and environmental factors, allowing the construction of a rational personalized medicine framework that can be applied in both the preclinical and clinical settings of SCD. The aim of the present article is to provide a concise overview of prevalence, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and diagnostic approach to this challenging disorder.
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Chimica e Microscopia Clinica, Dipartimento di Scienze Morfologico-Biomediche, Universita degli Studi di Verona, Italy. martina.montagnana@med.lu.se
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montagnana
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lippi
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franchini
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Targher
authors.forename: Gian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cesare Guidi
mesh_terms: D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors