Sudden Cardiac Death Due to Myocardial Infarction With Obstructive and Nonobstructive Coronary Arteries.
case_series · Level IV
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42024048.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.jacc.2026.01.030.
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Abstract
The total burden of community sudden cardiac deaths (SCDs) attributable to myocardial infarction (MI), including myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA), is unclear. The study sought to determine the burden of community SCD due to MI by histopathologic examination. The POST SCD (Postmortem Systematic Investigation of Sudden Cardiac Death) study is a prospective countywide study using autopsy to adjudicate presumed SCDs as cardiac (arrhythmic or nonarrhythmic) or noncardiac causes, with trauma deaths as reference control deaths. We defined a case as "SCD due to MI" if histopathological findings of MI without other lethal cause were found, and defined obstructive coronary artery disease as ≥50% stenosis in ≥1 coronary artery. Of 943 presumed SCDs from February 1, 2011, to March 31, 2023, 360 (38%) had noncardiac cause and 583 (62%) were autopsy-confirmed SCDs, of which 237 (41%) were due to MI (MI SCD): 214 (90%) were acute or healed myocardial infarction with obstructive coronary artery disease (MI-CAD) and 23 (10%) were acute MINOCA (highest proportion among Black patients; P < 0.05). Among 173 coronary lesions in acute MI-CAD SCDs (n = 95), the left anterior descending artery (n = 66 [38%]) and right coronary artery (n = 59 [35%]) were most commonly affected, and the right coronary artery was the most common culprit (43%). Nonarrhythmic causes were more common in MINOCA than acute MI-CAD SCDs (35% vs 15%; P = 0.037), with a trend toward being the highest in Asian patients (P = 0.1). The total fibrosis burden was similar in MINOCA and acute MI-CAD SCDs (P = 0.6). In this 12-year countywide study, one-fourth of all sudden deaths and 41% of autopsy-confirmed SCDs were attributable to MI, with significant racial differences. The left anterior descending artery and right coronary artery were most commonly affected among SCDs due to MI-CAD. Nonarrhythmic causes were twice as common in MINOCA SCDs than acute MI-CAD.