Int J Cardiol Heart Vasc. 2026 Sep 7;66:102009. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcha.2026.102009. eCollection 2026 Oct.
ABSTRACT
AIMS: We aimed to characterize etiologies and outcomes of patients aged 16-65 years after resuscitated sudden cardiac death (SCD), with particular emphasis on non-coronary and idiopathic cases.
METHODS: This retrospective single-center study screened admissions from 2010 to 2021 using ICD-10 codes followed by manual chart review. Patients were classified as having coronary, non-coronary, or unclassified etiology. Follow-up of hospital survivors included chart review, structured interviews, and device interrogation where available.
RESULTS: Of 232 patients meeting the initial inclusion criteria, 187 had sufficient diagnostic information for etiological classification: 139 had coronary and 48 non-coronary causes, while 45 remained unclassified because early death or incomplete diagnostic information precluded reliable assignment. In the classified cohort, 136 patients (72.7%) experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Coronary artery disease accounted for 94.2% of coronary cases. In the non-coronary group, 54.2% remained idiopathic; identified causes included cardiomyopathies (29.2%), myocarditis (8.3%), and channelopathies (6.3%). CPR duration <10 min was associated with lower in-hospital mortality, whereas duration ≥60 min was associated with higher mortality. Of 118 hospital survivors, structured follow-up was completed in 74 patients (median 77 months). ICD implantation was more frequent in non-coronary than coronary cases (68.8% vs. 18.7%). Among 47 patients with device follow-up, appropriate ICD shocks occurred in 23.1% and 19.0%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Non-coronary and idiopathic etiologies represent a substantial proportion of SCD in younger adults. The high proportion of unexplained cases supports standardized post-arrest evaluation, including multimodality imaging, inherited arrhythmia assessment, genetic testing, family screening, and longitudinal expert review. Recurrent ventricular arrhythmias in both groups support ICD-based secondary prevention in selected survivors.
PMID:42740947 | PMC:PMC13572166 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijcha.2026.102009