Sudden death syndrome (SDS) is an umbrella term used for the many different causes of cardiac arrest in young people.  CRY provides medical information on the most common causes of unexpected sudden cardiac death  - sometimes referred to as SADS - in the young (under 35)

In the UK, unexplained sudden death is frequently recorded as due to death from natural causes. Until the law is changed and coroners have to refer hearts on to specialists we will not know the true figures. CRY's fast track coroner / pathology service enables the cause of death in a sudden death case to be established more quickly and accurately than might otherwise happen if left to a local coroner lacking expertise in cardiac pathology.

• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM)

• Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) 

• Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM)  

• Restrictive Cardiomyopathy (RCM)

• Myocarditis

• Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)

• Ion Channelopathies - Long QT (inc. Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Sydrome & Romano-Ward syndrome), Brugada, Lev-Lenegre's Syndrome

• Wolff (Wolfe) Parkinson White Syndrome (WPW)

• Coronary Artery Anomalies (CAAs)

• Marfan Syndrome

• Other cardiac conditions - Endocardial Fibroelastosis (EFE), Tachycardia, Antibiotic Prophylaxis, Churg-Strauss Syndrome, Right Bundle Branch Block (RBBB), Kawasaki Disease, Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO)

Information on these medical conditions is also available in this CRY booklet - Cardiac Conditions in the Young: from ARVC to WPW   Click on the image (right) to download the booklet as a PDF

 

Guidelines in the National Service Framework Chapter 8 on Arrhythmias and Sudden Cardiac Death say that when there is a young sudden cardiac death, all first degree relatives should be urgently assessed.

 

Young people with cardiac conditions should also receive age-specific treatment and support.

 

See also:

Watch CRY Patron David Walliams have an ECG test

CRY gives special thanks to the following people for providing / reviewing this medical information:

• Dr Elijah R Behr

• Dr Sabiha Gati

• Dr Saqib Ghani

• Dr Martina Muggenthaler

• Dr Michael Papadakis

• Dr Hariharan Raju

• Professor Sanjay Sharma

• Dr Nabeel Sheikh

• Dr Abbas Zaidi