%0 Journal Article
%T Sudden cardiac death caused by myocarditis in persons aged 1每49 years: a nationwide study of 14ˋ294 deaths in Denmark
%A Bo Gregers Winkel
%A Jacob Tfelt-Hansen
%A Jytte Banner
%A Thomas Hadberg Lynge
%A Trine Skov Nielsen
%J Forensic Sciences Research
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2019.1595352
%X Abstract Myocarditis is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young. However, information on nationwide burden of SCD caused by myocarditis (SCD-myocarditis) is sparse. For this study all deaths among persons in Denmark aged 1每35ˋyears in 2000每2009 and 36每49ˋyears in 2007每2009 (27.1 million person-years) were included. Autopsy reports, death certificates, discharge summaries, and nationwide registries were used to identify all cases of SCD-myocarditis. In the 10-year study period, there were 14ˋ294 deaths, of which we identified 1ˋ363 (10%) SCD. Among autopsied SCD (nˋ=ˋ753, 55%), cause of death was myocarditis in 42 (6%) cases corresponding to an SCD-myocarditis incidence of 0.16 (95%CI: 0.11每0.21) per 100ˋ000 person-years. Males had significantly higher incidence rates of SCD-myocarditis compared to females with an incidence rate ratio of 2.2 (95%CI: 1.1每4.1). Myocarditis was not registered as cause of death in any of the non-autopsied SCD (nˋ=ˋ610, 45%). In conclusion, after nationwide unselected inclusion of 14ˋ294 deaths, we found that 6% of all autopsied SCD was caused by myocarditis. No cases of SCD-myocarditis were reported in the non-autopsied SCD, which could reflect underdiagnosing of myocarditis in non-autopsied SCD. Furthermore, our data suggest a female protection towards SCD-myocarditis
%U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2019.1595352