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Background: Hitherto, sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young has been described with no distinction between genders. SCD occurs more often in men (SCDm) than women (SCDw), but this disparity is not understood and has not been investigated systematically in a nationwide setting. Our objective was to report gender differences in SCD in the young in a nationwide (Denmark) setting.Methods: All deaths in persons aged 1-35 years nationwide in Denmark between 2000 and 2009 were included. Death certificates and autopsy reports were obtained. The extensive health care registries in Denmark were used to investigate any known disease prior to death. SCDw were compared to SCDm.Results: During the 10-year study period there were a total of 8756 deaths in 23.7 million person-years. In total, 635 deaths were SCD. SCDw constituted 205 deaths (32%). Women had a higher proportion of witnessed deaths (51 vs. 41%, p = 0.02) and died less often in a public place (16 vs. 26%, p = 0.01). Age at death, ratios of autopsies and sudden unexplained deaths, and comorbidities, did not differ. Causes of SCD were largely comparable between genders. The incidence rate of SCDw was half of that of SCDm (1.8 vs. 3.6 per 100,000 person-years, incidence rate ratio 2.0 (95% CI 1.7-2.4), p < 0.01).Conclusions: Incidence rate ratio of SCDm vs SCDw is 2. Young SCDw and SCDm are equally investigated, have comparable comorbidity, and causes of SCD. SCD due to potentially inherited cardiac diseases is less often in young women and could reflect a protection of female gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asthma is a common chronic disease among young adults, and several studies have reported increased mortality rates in patients with asthma. However, no study has described sudden unexpected death in a nationwide setting in patients with uncontrolled asthma. We defined uncontrolled asthma as a previous hospital admittance because of asthma (of any severity) or when asthma was considered to have influenced the death according to the death certificate. The purpose of this study is to increase the medical focus on young persons with uncontrolled asthma and thereby hopefully aid in preventing sudden unexpected deaths. We therefore aimed to describe clinical characteristics, symptoms, causes of death, and contact with the healthcare system prior to sudden unexpected death in young persons with uncontrolled asthma. Methods: Through the review of death certificates, we found 625 sudden unexpected death cases in individuals aged 1-35 years in Denmark from 2000 to 2006. Of those, 49 persons with uncontrolled asthma were identified. Previous contacts with the healthcare system were identified, and available records from general practitioners were retrieved. Results: We identified 49 individuals who suffered from uncontrolled asthma. This corresponds to an incidence rate of 0.32 per 100,000 person-years. The cause of death in 31 cases (63%) was sudden cardiac death, and in 13 cases (27%), it was a fatal asthma attack. Symptoms (chest pain, dyspnea, seizures, general malaise, syncope, and palpitations) prior to death were reported in 41 (84%) of the cases. In 34(69%) of the cases, antecedent symptoms (symptoms >24 hours before death) were present, and 28 (57%) patients had prodromal symptoms (symptoms < 24 hours before death). The most common antecedent symptoms were dyspnea and chest pain, whereas the most common prodromal symptoms were dyspnea, general malaise, and/or fatigue. Twenty-eight patients (57%) sought medical advice from a general practitioner and/or emergency department due to these symptoms. Conclusion: The cause of death was predominantly sudden cardiac death followed by fatal asthma attack. We found that 41 (84%) of patients suffered from symptoms prior to death and that 28 (57%) sought medical advice from the emergency department and/or general practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]