- A sudden death presumably caused by cardiac arrhythmia or hemodynamic catastrophe, which occurs either within an hour of symptom onset in patients with cardiovascular symptoms, or within 24 hours of being asymptomatic in patients with no cardiovascular symptoms.
- Fatal ventricular arrhythmia
- Underlying conditions
- Coronary artery disease: present in ∼ 70% of cases
- Dilated cardiomyopathy/hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Hereditary ion channelopathies (e.g., long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome)
- Installation of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator device