title: Sudden cardiac death in China: current status and future perspectives.
abstract: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major cause of mortality worldwide. Similar to the number of SCDs in western countries including the USA, the number of SCDs in China is ∼544,000 annually. However, there are significant differences in patient characteristics between Chinese primary prevention population and U.S. primary prevention population. In contrast to western countries where implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) devices have been well adopted as a major effective method for both primary and secondary prevention of SCD, China has a low prevalence of ICD utilization (∼1.5 device per 1 million people). Socioeconomic and political factors, awareness and knowledge of SCD, and the difference in disease patterns have led to the underutilization of ICD in China. China, as the most populated and the second largest economic country in the world, has now taken variable approaches to address this pressing health problem and enhances the delivery of lifesaving therapies, including arrhythmia ablation and medical treatment besides ICD, to patients who are at risk of SCD.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Arrhythmia Center, Clinical EP Lab and Arrhythmic Center, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 167 Beilishilu, Beijing 100037, PR China zsfuwai@vip.163.com zsfuwai@126.com.
authors: Shu
authors: S
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D015996:Survival Rate; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control*
keywords: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator; Primary prevention; Sudden cardiac death; Ventricular fibrillation; Ventricular tachycardia