A statistical study of sudden cardiac death for past five years in Osaka medical, investigated at the Osaka Medical Examiner's Office.

From 1982 to 1986, there were 1230 sudden death cases autopsied in Osaka Medical Examiner's Office. Among them, 810 cases were classified cardiac deaths (SCDs) such as coronary heart disease (77%), cardiomyopathy (7%), valvular disease (3%). All SCD cases were dead within 24 hours after the appearance of the fatal symptoms, and most of them (72%) were supposed to be instantaneous death. Many of the fatal symptoms began in bed (31%), at bath (17%), at toilet (8%) or at work (8%). 34% of them were thought to be healthy by themselves or by their family members before their deaths. Hypertension (38%), coronary heart disease (13%) and diabetes mellitus (11%) were their major past histories recorded. Cardiac lesions such as myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis and atherosclerosis of coronary artery were frequently admitted in SCD. SCD has been vigorously studied for a long time in various fields including legal medicine, and it has also attracted a great deal of public attention recently. To clarify the causes and the mechanisms of SCD, investigations of the actual situation of SCD cases is essential. Therefore, 1230 autopsy cases of SCD in Osaka Medical Examiner's Office for recent five years were statistically investigated.