Natural Causes of Sudden Young Adult Deaths in Forensic Autopsies

Daş, Taner; Buğra, Aytül

doi:10.7759/cureus.21856

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…While atherosclerotic coronary artery diseases cause more fatalities in adults more than 35 years, fatal arrhythmias from structural abnormalities of the heart that include cardiomyopathies or due to arrhythmogenic disorders such as long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome, etc. result in more deaths 1,2 among adults younger than 35-40 years. However, it is predicted that the cause of death in about 30% of sudden death in the young still may remain unascertained after a complete 2 autopsy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with Massive Cardiomegaly in Indian Young Adult: Autopsy Case Report

Alagarasan,

Sahu,

Mohanty

et al. 2023

jiafm

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The sudden death of a bread winning adult in the family is devastating for any family. Even worse is when the adult dies in his young adulthood. Cardiovascular pathologies dominate the causes of sudden deaths in young adults more than the central nervous and respiratory systems. The enlarged heart or cardiomegaly at autopsy is the first indication of such cardiac pathology. Cardiomegaly may result from various pathologies such as hypertension, cardiomyopathies, rheumatic valvular diseases, etc. The resultant increase in the heart's weight due to the cardiac myocytes' adaptive response to meet the demand in the above conditions is known as cardiac hypertrophy. Although multiple reports on cardiomegaly were described from clinical settings based on imaging modalities like X-ray or echo cardiography, the data is lacking from forensic autopsies, especially from India. This is the first case report describing a young adult male of 30 years old who died due to massive cardiomegaly with a heart weight of 878 g from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with Massive Cardiomegaly in Indian Young Adult: Autopsy Case Report

Alagarasan,

Sahu,

Mohanty

et al. 2023

jiafm

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“…Additionally, accidental trauma and public health emergencies are becoming the number one cause of incapacitation and even death among young adults. 1,2 Young adults are aware of and are exposed to hospitalization and death more frequently and face increased urgency of end-of-life medical issues during COVID-19 times. 3,4 Influenced by traditional Chinese culture, death is characterized as a “forbidden subject”; therefore, young adults often do not have the opportunity to communicate their preferences, and in the face of sudden life crises, they often passively accept family values and doctor-led medical decisions at the end of life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptance of Advance Care Planning Among Young Adults in Shijiazhuang, China: A Mixed-Methods Study

Shen

Zong

Yang

et al. 2022

Am J Hosp Palliat Care

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Context: In the event of accidental trauma, incurable disease and public health emergencies, young adults are unable to participate in their own medical decisions, family members face the huge decision-making pressure and medical resources of the society were unevenly distributed. Objective: The purposes of this study is to investigate the Advanced Care Planning (ACP) acceptance and examine its influencing factors using sequential explanatory mixed methods in order to provide a basis for the formulation of later interventions. Methods: A cross-sectional study of young adults (N = 785) and 12 other young adults from two other communities were investigated from January 2021 to February 2022. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions were conducted. Content analysis was performed on the qualitative data. Results: The primary factors that contributed to the acceptance of ACP were the natural acceptance of death, being female, having a high level of education, having a loved one diagnosed with a chronic disease, and having heard of ACP. Among young adults, the acceptance of ACP may be impeded by a fear of the unknown nature of death, a poor understanding of ACP, and family-led decision-making. Discussion: Our study found that 77.1% had not heard of ACP before participating in the study and showed potential to accept ACP-related interventions. The study highlighted the importance of implementing regular young adult education courses, promoting routine ACP knowledge, individualized education, discussing family member’s disease experiences, conducting family meetings, and identifying young adult responsibilities and roles in implement ACP for young adults in China.

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“…Globally, the incidence of sudden death among young adults had been estimated to be about 0.8-6.2 per 100,000/year 1 . Cardiovascular causes, including arrhythmia, myocardial ischaemia, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, aortic aneurysm and valvular diseases, are the most commonly reported causes of such deaths 2 , 3 . The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in excess mortality and studies have documented the same in certain age groups 4 - 6 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with unexplained sudden deaths among adults aged 18-45 years in India – A multicentric matched case–control study

Murhekar,

Ponnaiah,

Bhatnagar

et al. 2023

Indian J Med Res

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Background & objectives: In view of anecdotal reports of sudden unexplained deaths in India’s apparently healthy young adults, linking to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection or vaccination, we determined the factors associated with such deaths in individuals aged 18-45 years through a multicentric matched case–control study. Methods: This study was conducted through participation of 47 tertiary care hospitals across India. Cases were apparently healthy individuals aged 18-45 years without any known co-morbidity, who suddenly (<24 h of hospitalization or seen apparently healthy 24 h before death) died of unexplained causes during 1 st October 2021-31 st March 2023. Four controls were included per case matched for age, gender and neighborhood. We interviewed/perused records to collect data on COVID-19 vaccination/infection and post-COVID-19 conditions, family history of sudden death, smoking, recreational drug use, alcohol frequency and binge drinking and vigorous-intensity physical activity two days before death/interviews. We developed regression models considering COVID-19 vaccination ≤42 days before outcome, any vaccine received anytime and vaccine doses to compute an adjusted matched odds ratio (aOR) with 95 per cent confidence interval (CI). Results: Seven hundred twenty nine cases and 2916 controls were included in the analysis. Receipt of at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine lowered the odds [aOR (95% CI)] for unexplained sudden death [0.58 (0.37, 0.92)], whereas past COVID-19 hospitalization [3.8 (1.36, 10.61)], family history of sudden death [2.53 (1.52, 4.21)], binge drinking 48 h before death/interview [5.29 (2.57, 10.89)], use of recreational drug/substance [2.92 (1.1, 7.71)] and performing vigorous-intensity physical activity 48 h before death/interview [3.7 (1.36, 10.05)] were positively associated. Two doses lowered the odds of unexplained sudden death [0.51 (0.28, 0.91)], whereas single dose did not. Interpretation & conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination did not increase the risk of unexplained sudden death among young adults in India. Past COVID-19 hospitalization, family history of sudden death and certain lifestyle behaviors increased the likelihood of unexplained sudden death.

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Natural Causes of Sudden Young Adult Deaths in Forensic Autopsies

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with Massive Cardiomegaly in Indian Young Adult: Autopsy Case Report

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with Massive Cardiomegaly in Indian Young Adult: Autopsy Case Report

Acceptance of Advance Care Planning Among Young Adults in Shijiazhuang, China: A Mixed-Methods Study

Factors associated with unexplained sudden deaths among adults aged 18-45 years in India – A multicentric matched case–control study

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