Learn About SCD

Sudden death is defined as sudden, unexpected, non-traumatic death occurring within 1 h of symptom onset. Sudden cardiac death (SCD), also called sudden cardiac arrest, is death resulting from an abrupt loss of heart function. In about 50% of victims, there is no previous diagnosed heart disease. The most common underlying reason for patients to die suddenly from cardiac arrest is coronary heart disease (fatty buildups in the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle). The most common mechanism for cardiac arrest is a ventricular arrhythmia (ventricular fibrillation/ventricular tachycardia).

About 700,000 people in Europe and 300,000 in the United States suffer sudden death each year. Most of these are SCD caused by cardiac arrest. About half of all deaths from heart disease are sudden cardiac deaths.

SCD occurs most frequently in adults and is twice as frequent in men than in women. SCD is rare in children, affecting only 1 to 2 per 100,000 children each year.

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