Autopsy in sudden cardiac deaths

Sudden cardiac death is described as death that occur within the 1st hour of the onset of the symptoms or death within the 24 hours of the onset of symptoms in unwitnessesed deaths. Studies conducted in our country reveal that cardiovascular origined deaths are the most frequent, with a rate of 20% of all deaths. Although sudden deaths in young people are rare, it is important to perform a detailed autopsy and other required procedures. The etiology of the sudden death is hard to determine for the forensic doctors and in 5-1% of all cases no certain cause is determined despite the macroscopic, toxicologic and histopathologic evaluations. European Society of Cardiovascular Pathology also recommends performing molecular autopsy when the certain cardiac cause cannot be determined morphological. This review aims to offer genetical consulting to the family members of the sudden cardiac death cases and clarify the etiology of death via genetical evaluation if the macroscopic, toxicologic and histopathologic examinations fail to explain thecause of the sudden cardiac death especially in children and young adults. The most important problems in our country are the lack of multidisiplinary approach and standardized management methods. In our country molecular autopsy is only considered in rare and selected cases, but if these genetical evaluations were made more applicable and accessible via interdepartmental agreements and the application of new genetical diagnosis methods, it would be possible to develop standardized methods for the case selection of molecular autopsies in the future.

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