Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Individuals With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Little data exist on the risk and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in people with HIV (PWH). We aimed to describe OHCA in PWH as compared with the general population in terms of incidence, characteristics, and survival. METHODS: This nationwide study assessed all individuals aged 18-85 years between 2001 and 2019 in Denmark. The cumulative incidence of OHCA was computed using cause-specific Cox models accounting for competing risk of death. RESULTS: Among 6 565 309 individuals, 6 925 (median age: 36; interquartile range [IQR]: 28-44 y; 74% males) were infected at some point with HIV. The incidence of OHCA was 149 (95% CI: 123-180)/100 000 person-years in PWH versus 64 (95% CI: 64-65)/100 000 person-years in people without HIV (P < .001). Age at the time of cardiac arrest was 52 (IQR: 44-61) years in PWH versus 69 (IQR: 59-77) years in individuals without HIV (P < .001). In a multivariable model adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, and renal failure, PWH had a 2-fold higher risk of OHCA (hazard ratio: 2.84; 95% CI: 2.36-3.43; P < .001). Thirty-day mortality (89% vs 88%; P = .80) was comparable to individuals without HIV. CONCLUSIONS: HIV is an independent risk factor for OHCA, and those who experience OHCA with HIV are much younger than those without HIV. Almost 90% of PWH died 1 month after OHCA. Further research should strive to find out how to reduce OHCA occurrence in this population.

Witnessed and unwitnessed sudden cardiac death: a nationwide study of persons aged 1-35 years.

AIMS: The aim of this study is to compare clinical characteristics and causes of death among witnessed and unwitnessed sudden cardiac death (SCD) cases aged 1-35 years. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this retrospective nationwide study, all deaths in persons aged 1-35 years in Denmark during 2000-09 were included (23.7 million person-years). Using the in-depth descriptive Danish death certificates and Danish nationwide registries, 860 cases of sudden, unexpected death were identified. Through review of autopsy reports and register data, we identified 635 cases of SCD of which 266 (42%) were witnessed and 326 (51%) were unwitnessed. In 43 cases (7%), witnessed status was missing. Clinical characteristics were overall similar between the two groups. We found a male predominance among unwitnessed SCD compared to witnessed SCD (71% and 62%, respectively, P-value 0.012), as well as more psychiatric comorbidity (20% and 13%, respectively, P-value 0.029). Unwitnessed SCD more often occurred during sleep whereas witnessed SCD more often occurred while the individual was awake and relaxed (P-value < 0.001). The autopsy rate among all SCD cases was 70% with no significant difference in autopsy rate between the two groups. Sudden unexplained death, which was the leading autopsy conclusion in both groups, was more frequent among unwitnessed SCD (P-value 0.001). CONCLUSION: Several clinical characteristics and autopsy findings were similar between witnessed and unwitnessed SCD cases. Our data support the inclusion of both witnessed and unwitnessed cases in epidemiological studies of SCD cases aged 1-35 years, although the risk of misclassification is higher among unwitnessed and non-autopsied cases of SCD.

Proarrhythmic drugs, drug levels, and polypharmacy in victims of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome: An autopsy-based study from Denmark.

BACKGROUND: Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS), characterized by an unknown or inconclusive cause of death at autopsy together with a negative or nonlethal toxicology screening result, is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in victims younger than 35 years. The complete causality of SADS remains unclear, with drugs being a potential risk factor. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the toxicologic profiles of SADS victims, focusing on proarrhythmic drugs, drug levels, and polypharmacy. METHODS: All deaths in Denmark of those aged 1-35 years in 2000-2019 and 36-49 years in 2007-2019 were examined through death certificates, national registries, and autopsy reports with toxicology screenings. We investigated all sudden unexpected death victims with an autopsy performed, including negative or nonlethal drug findings, where cause of death was unknown or inconclusive (SADS). RESULTS: We identified 477 SADS victims; 313 (66%) had a positive toxicology screening result (adjudicated nonlethal), with an average of 2.8 drugs per case. More than half of the SADS victims with a positive toxicology screening result had QT-prolonging or brugadogenic drugs present. Polypharmacy was present in 66%, psychotropic polypharmacy in 37%, and QT-prolonging polypharmacy in 22%, with the most frequent overall and QT-prolonging drug combination being an antipsychotic and a psychoanaleptic drug. QT-prolonging drugs were more often present at suprapharmacologic levels than non-QT-prolonging drugs. CONCLUSION: The majority of the SADS population had a positive toxicology screening result, with a notably large proportion having proarrhythmic drugs and polypharmacy. This highlights the need for future focus on drugs as a risk factor for SADS.

Differences among young unwitnessed sudden cardiac death, according to time from last seen alive: Insights from a 15-year nationwide study.

BACKGROUND: More than half of all sudden cardiac deaths (SCDs) are unwitnessed, but the composition of the unwitnessed SCD population is poorly described. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare clinical and autopsy characteristics of young unwitnessed SCD subjects, based on the time from last contact to being found dead. METHODS: All unwitnessed SCD subjects aged 1-35 years in Denmark from 2000-2014 identified through a multisource approach were included. Time from last seen alive to being found dead was dichotomized to <1 hour or 1-24 hours. Clinical characteristics and autopsy results were compared, and predictors of autopsy were assessed by logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 440 unwitnessed SCD subjects, 366 (83%) had not been seen alive within 1 hour of being found dead. Comorbidities differed between the groups, with more epilepsy (17% vs 5%) and psychiatric diseases (13% vs 7%) in the 24-hour group. Patients in the 24-hour group died more frequently during sleep (64% vs 23%), the autopsy rate was higher (75% vs 61%), and deaths were more often unexplained after autopsy (69% vs 53%). Having been seen within 1 hour of death independently decreased the chance of being autopsied (odds ratio 0.51; 95% confidence interval 0.27-1.00; P = .0497). CONCLUSION: The majority of unwitnessed SCD subjects had not been seen alive within 1 hour of being found dead. Clinical- and autopsy-related characteristics differed between the 2 groups. Differences were mainly attributable to death-related circumstances and comorbidities. Excluding SCD cases not seen alive within 1 hour of being found dead would severely underestimate the burden of SCD.

Use of Nonrecommended Drugs in Patients With Brugada Syndrome: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study.

Background Patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS) are recommended to avoid drugs that may increase their risk of arrhythmic events. We examined treatment with such drugs in patients with BrS after their diagnosis. Methods and Results All Danish patients diagnosed with BrS (2006-2018) with >12 months of follow-up were identified from nationwide registries. Nonrecommended BrS drugs were grouped into drugs to "avoid" or "preferably avoid" according to http://www.brugadadrugs.org. Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed to identify factors associated with any nonrecommended BrS drug use, and logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associated risk of appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy, mortality, and a combined end point indicating an arrhythmic event of delayed implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation, appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy, and mortality. During a median follow-up of 6.8 years, 93/270 (34.4%) patients with BrS (70.4% male, median age at diagnosis 46.1 years [interquartile range, 32.6-57.4]) were treated with ≥1 nonrecommended BrS drugs. No difference in any nonrecommended BrS drug use was identified comparing time before BrS diagnosis (12.6%) with each of the 5 years following BrS diagnosis (P>0.05). Factors associated with any nonrecommended BrS drug use after diagnosis were female sex (hazard ratio [HR]) 1.83 [95% CI, 1.15-2.90]), psychiatric disease (HR, 3.63 [1.89-6.99]), and prior use of any nonrecommended BrS drug (HR, 4.76 [2.45-9.25]). No significant association between any nonrecommended BrS drug use and implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy (n=20/97, odds ratio [OR], 0.7 [0.2-2.4]), mortality (n=10/270, OR, 3.4 [0.7-19.6]), or the combined end point (n=38/270, OR, 1.7 [0.8-3.7]) was identified. Conclusions One in 3 patients with BrS were treated with a nonrecommended BrS drug after BrS diagnosis, and a BrS diagnosis did not change prescription patterns. More awareness of nonrecommended drug use among patients with BrS is needed.