Tag Archives: aetiology

Epidemiology The incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in athletes varies widely between studies, ranging between 0.24 and 6.8 per 100,000 person-years.1,2 This is partially explained by the differences in the populations studied, differences in the definition of an athlete, and the inclusion of sudden cardiac arrest into studies. Age has been shown to be an important determinant of risk, with a nationwide Danish study showing that those aged 12 to 35 years were at a lower risk (0.43 to 2.95 per 100,000 person-years) compared with those aged 36 to 49 years (0.47 to 6.64 per 100,000 person-years).3 Interestingly, this study also showed that

Diagnosis can be challenging as its symptoms are often non-specific: they may include breathlessness, fatigue, weakness, angina, syncope and abdominal distension. In the mid-1980s, before the availability of ‘targeted’ therapy, median life expectancy from diagnosis in patients with idiopathic PAH (formerly termed primary pulmonary hypertension [PPH]) was only 2.8 years.3 In 1996, continuous intravenous prostacyclin (epoprostenol) was the first drug to demonstrate outcome benefit in PAH.4 Subsequently, over the past ten years, randomised, placebo-controlled trials of other prostacyclin analogues, endothelin receptor antagonists and phospho

Case report Figure 1. Electrocardiogram (ECG) features of left ventricular hypertrophy A 67-year-old man was referred to the cardiology clinic with a history of collapse and a family history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). He denied any history of angina or dyspnoea. On physical examination he had a 3/6 grade ejection murmur in the aortic area and a pansystolic murmur at the mitral area accentuated on squatting. There were no signs of volume overload. X-ray angiography demonstrated normal coronaries but a raised end diastolic pressure. His electrocardiogram (ECG) was compatible with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (figure 1). A single

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