Pathology of Sudden Cardiac Death in a Metropolitan Forensic Institution in Thailand
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Abstract
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a condition that is relatively common worldwide. However, the data on the characteristic of SCD is sparse in Southeast Asian countries. The authors performed a retrospective review of forensic autopsy report at Siriraj Hospital, the largest hospital on the Western Bangkok metropolitan area. Adult autopsy cases over 18 years of age from 2018 through 2020 were reviewed for demographic data (age, sex, body mass index [BMI], circumstance of death), heart weight, cardiac pathology, and cause of death.
A total of 794 cases of SCD were identified. The cases were predominantly male (85.4%), with the mean age of 49.4 ± 13.9 years old. The causes of SCD were coronary artery disease (CAD; n=554, 69.8%), followed by structurally normal heart (n=114, 14.4%), cardiomegaly (n=81, 10.2%), cardiomyopathy (n=12, 1.5%), myocarditis (n=11, 1.4%), hypertensive heart disease (n=10, 1.3%), valvular heart disease (n=8, 1%), and congenital heart disease (n=4, 0.5%). The deceased in group 1 (SCD with CAD) had the highest mean of 53.3 ± 12.5 years old, followed by group 2 (SCD with non-CAD causes; 41.3 ± 13.0 years old), and group 3 (SCD with structurally heart; 38.7 ± 11.0 years old). Group 1 and group 2 have the mean BMI over 25 (25.4 ± 5.1 and 26.8 ± 7.5, respectively). While the mean BMI in group 3 is 23.0 ± 3.4. There is a statistical significance in difference between the mean heart weight in group 1 (433.5 ± 106.1 grams), group 2 (458.6 ± 121.6 grams), and group 3 (311.7 ± 65.3 grams).
This study reveals the causes of adult SCD in a metropolitan area in Thailand. CAD is the leading cause of SCD in every age group. Unexplained SCD or SCD with structurally normal heart is very common in individuals between 18-35 years old, accounting for one-third of cases.
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เนื้อหาและข้อมูลในบทความที่ลงตีพิมพ์ใน วารสารวิชาการอาชญาวิทยาและนิติวิทยาศาสตร์ โรงเรียนนายร้อยตำรวจ ถิอว่าเป็นข้อคิดเห็นและความรั้บผิดชอบของผู้เขียนบทความโดยตรงซึ่งกองบรรณาธิการวารสาร ไม่จำเป็นต้องเห็นด้วยหรือรับผิดชอบใดๆ
บทความ ข้อมูล เนื้อหา รูปภาพ ฯลฯ ที่ได้รับการตีพิมพ์ใน วารสารวิชาการอาชญาวิทยาและนิติวิทยาศาสตร์ ถือว่าเป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของวารสาร วารสารวิชาการอาชญาวิทยาและนิติวิทยาศาสตร์ หากบุคคลหรือหน่วยงานใดต้องการนำทั้งหมดหรือส่วนหนึ่งส่วนใดไปเผยแพร่ต่อหรือเพื่อกระทำการใดๆ จะต้องได้รับอนุญาตเป็นลายลักษณ์อักษรจาก วารสารวิชาการอาชญาวิทยาและนิติวิทยาศาสตร์ ก่อนเท่านั้น
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