Sudden cardiac death in children and adolescents: Introduction and overview

SCD in children and adolescents, although less common than in adults, is devastating. It is fair to say, although it is not definitively known, that there are approximately 500 cases per year of unexplained SCD in children and adolescents per year in the United States. The causes are well well-known, although they may not be discovered prior to the episode of sudden death. It is probable that the final common pathway for many, if not most, of the causes of SCD is VF. A challenge for the future will be the prospective identification of those children and adolescents who are at risk prior to an episode of SCD. Because the identification of all such children may not be possible, there is logic for the development of community/school-based secondary prevention/education programs. There may also be logic for the establishment of a national registry in order to track data that are related to unexpected SCD in children and adolescents in order to understand the true incidence of this problem and its related issues.