Sudden death--epidemiological aspects.

Coronary heart disease presents in a disturbingly high percentage of instances as sudden death. A large percentage of cases occur outside the hospital, outside the reach of emergency care. Data on the frequency of sudden death, within the framework of coronary heart disease incidence, are presented. The risk factors for sudden death, as far as it is known, are similar in kind and predictive power to those for myocardial infarction with survival. While there is a great need for new tests which predict susceptibility to sudden death with adequate sensitivity and specificity, the lesson to be learned from all the knowledge already gained is that prevention of premature coronary heart disease as a whole, through appropriate changes in life style, will correspondingly reduce the risk of sudden death in the population as well. This knowledge must be put into action and should have an appreciable effect on the frequency of sudden death while more research on the mechanisms of the condition is being conducted.