Sudden cardiac death

Definition: An unexpected natural death from a cardiac cause within a short time period, generally less than 1 hour from the onset of symptoms, in a person without any prior condition that would appear fatal. SCD is most likely to occur in a patient with an underlying cardiac abnormality, whether known or not; approximately 70% of SCDs are caused by coronary heart disease. A loss of heart function is often attributed to a cardiac arrhythmia, but classifications based on clinical circumstances cannot be considered definitive.

Synonyms (terms occurring on more labels are shown first): sudden cardiac death

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