What is sudden cardiac death?

Sudden cardiac death is an unexpected death due to a loss of heart function. It often occurs without any warning.

In middle-aged and older people sudden cardiac death can be related to a sudden blockage of an artery in the heart. SCD in younger people is often related to an disorder of the heart’s structure , function or electrical wiring that is passed down through the family.

The cause of around one-third of SCD cases is often unclear even when an autopsy is conducted. Fortunately, research is continuing and has shown that careful assessment of family members in combination with genetic testing can help uncover some unknown cases. This information can be highly valuable for protecting other family members.

The National Centre for Sports Cardiology’s research aims to continue uncovering the causes of SCD and improve ways of finding at-risk members of the population.

The treatments used depend on the level of risk; low, medium or high, with less options being available for treatments for low-risk patients.

“The difficulty is that people who are at low-risk are certainly not at no-risk. One of our greatest challenges is to improve our ability to predict those who will run into problems. This is especially true of athletes where the default position is often to tell them to stop sporting even though this may not help and it certainly does not offer complete protection.” - Dr. André La Gerche

Sudden Cardiac Death is discussed further on the Racing Heart podcast with Associate Professor David Prior, Dr. Maria Brosnan and Associate Professor André La Gerche.

The content and views expressed in this podcast are general in nature and are not intended to address the unique circumstances of each individual. Please do not use this content as a substitute for a personal medical assessment. If this podcast raises questions for you about your own health please consult with your doctor.