More frequent use of electrocardiograms could help prevent sudden cardiac death

Many young people who suffered sudden cardiac death had recently sought medical care. More frequent use of electrocardiograms (ECG) could help prevent such cases, according to researchers at the University of Gothenburg.

Sudden cardiac death without visible heart disease - known as sudden arrhythmic death- can strike even young, seemingly healthy individuals. It is, however, very rare: about 15 cases occur each year in Sweden.

In this Swedish nationwide study, researchers examined all cases of sudden arrhythmic death among individuals aged 1 to 35 who died in Sweden between 2000 and 2010. Many of those who died had shown signs of heart problems before their deaths.

One in three had sought medical care

The study identified 149 deaths over the ten-year period in which autopsies found no structural damage to the heart- indicating an electrical disturbance in the heart rhythm. Using Sweden's national health and population registers along with medical records, the researchers analyzed symptoms, ECG results, and healthcare visits prior to death. Each case was compared with ten randomly selected individuals from the Swedish population, matched by age, sex, and county of residence.

Key findings:
• Most of the victims were young men in their early twenties.
• Half had shown early warning signs such as fainting or palpitations.
• One in three had sought medical care within six months of death. Among these, visits for fainting were twenty times more common and visits for seizures ten times more common than among controls.
• Nearly one in five had a previously abnormal ECG.

Include ECG

The study was conducted by Matilda Frisk Torell, researcher affiliated with the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and cardiologist at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

"It's striking that so many had seen a doctor shortly before the event. It shows that we have an opportunity to identify those at risk before something happens," says Matilda Frisk Torell.

The results indicate that fainting, seizures, and abnormal ECG findings in young people should be taken more seriously.

The more we understand the symptoms and ECG changes that may come before a sudden arrhythmic death, the better we can identify those at risk."

Mats Börjesson, professor of exercise physiology,  Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg