Sudden death in nondilated cardiomyopathies: pathophysiology and prevention

• Published in: Current heart failure reports Vol. 2; no. 3; pp. 118 - 123
• Main Authors: Soni, Anand, LeLorier, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-09-2005
• Subjects: Adrenergic beta-Antagonists - therapeutic use; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents - therapeutic use; Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia - complications; Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia - physiopathology; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic - complications; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic - physiopathology; Death, Sudden, Cardiac - etiology; Death, Sudden, Cardiac - prevention & control; Defibrillators, Implantable; Disease Progression; Electric Countershock - methods; Humans; Prognosis; Risk Factors
• ISSN: 1546-9530; 1546-9549
• DOI: 10.1007/s11897-005-0019-x

Sudden cardiac death is a frequent cause of death and has been well studied in the setting of both ischemic and dilated cardiomyopathies. The primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death has not been the focus of randomized clinical trials in the large cohort of patients with nondilated, nonischemic cardiomyopathies, however. Those disorders include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and its apical variant, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, left ventricular noncompaction, cardiac amyloidosis, and cardiac sarcoidosis. In these conditions, risk stratification for sudden death is based on observational data.