Atherosclerosis of coronary arteries, coronary heart disease and sudden coronary death.

Correlation between the severity of coronary atherosclerosis, thrombosis and sudden cardiac death was examined in 721 autopsied cases. Severe coronary atherosclerosis with stenosis was found in most of them; however a similar grade of atherosclerosis was discovered in patients with ischaemic heart disease not dying suddenly. Acute coronary thrombosis in the studied subjects was diagnosed post mortem in about 20 percent of those who died suddenly. Other studies indicate frequencies between 4-93%. There was no consistent time dependence.