title: [Clinical features of unexpected sudden death clustered in 7 families in Yunnan Province].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical features of unexpected sudden death (SUD) clustered in families in Yunnan province.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study analyzed the clinical features of SUD occurred between July to September 2005 in 7 families in Yunnan province.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 16 SUD patients shared common clinical features such as fatigue and repeated syncope and one group of SUD patients (n = 8 from 4 families) presented with the gastric intestinal tract manifestations including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea with suspected dietary history and abnormal laboratory enzyme findings (GOT/GPT, CK/CKMB, LDH/LDH1 etc.). In SUD patients without gastric intestinal tract manifestations (n = 8 from 3 families), there were no clear symptoms before death and repeated ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation were recorded in one survivor. There was no clear evidence for the involvements of hereditary and infectious factors for observed SUD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The reason for the unexpected sudden death clustered in 7 families in Yunnan remains unclear. Repeated syncope and fatigue served as the common clinical features in the presence or absence of gastric intestinal tract manifestations in all SUD cases. Further studies are needed to clarify the pathology and detailed clinical manifestations of SUD occurred in this area.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Institute, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100037, China. zhangjian62@medmail.com.cn
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guo-qing
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Wen-li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jian-zhong
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Shao-dong
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Jin-ma
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Zhao-xiang
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Meng-yue
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yue-bing
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Chong-jian
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiao-qing
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Su
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Lai-feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Cun-long
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Hong-yue
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Fountaine
authors.forename: Chong-fu
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jie-lin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pu
authors.forename: Yue-jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015982:Bias; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult