Epidemiología de la muerte súbita cardiaca

Despite recent progress in the management of cardiovascular disorders generally, and cardiac arrhythmias in particular, sudden cardiac death remains both a problem for the practising clinician and a major public health issue. An estimate for global annual incidence of sudden cardiac death would be in the range of 4 to 5 million cases per year. Information about the causes and mechanisms of the sudden cardiac death syndrome suggests that a specific reduction will require the development of new and multifaceted approaches, including epidemiologic techniques to address risk characteristics specific to the problem; characterisation of triggering events and identification of specific persons at risk for responding adversely to these events; and methods of evaluating outcomes appropriate to the nature of sudden cardiac death.