Mechanism of sudden cardiac death in patients with heart failure

Context: heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe and in the United States. The aim of this review article was to assess the mechanism of sudden death in patients with heart failure and Identification of the arrhythmogenic substrate in cardiomyopathy.
Evidence Acquisition: Reports published with the following search terms were searched: ischemic cardiomyopathies, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, ventricular tachycardia, sudden cardiac death, myocardial scar, Ejection fraction. The investigation was restricted to reports published in English.
Evidence Synthesis: The outcome of this analysis suggests the mechanism underlying SCD is frequently ventricular arrhythmias and these are more common in patients with structural heart disease.
Conclusions: The mechanism underlying SCD is frequently ventricular arrhythmias and these are more common in patients with structural heart disease. NICM is an important and perhaps globally under-recognized form of structural heart disease that may be a significant contributor to SCD