STUDY OF POSTMORTEM CARDIAC FINDINGS IN CHRONIC ALCOHOLICS BROUGHT DEAD TO THE HOSPITAL

Dr.Snigdha Jain; Dr. Bajarang Lal Bansal; Dr Brajendra kumar

Volume : VII, Issue : VIII, August - 2018

STUDY OF POSTMORTEM CARDIAC FINDINGS IN CHRONIC ALCOHOLICS BROUGHT DEAD TO THE HOSPITAL

Dr. Snigdha Jain, Dr. Bajarang Lal Bansal, Dr Brajendra Kumar

Abstract :

Sudden unexplained death in alcohol misuse (SUDAM) in which there is no obvious cause of death, no evidence of acute alcohol toxicity or alcoholic ketoacidosis, and the heart is morphologically normal were studied by us in this study. Cases with recorded heavy use of alcohol and non-alcohol users were selected, then limited to those with SUDAM or SADS (sudden arrhythmic death syndrome) aged 16 to 64 years. 60 cases of SUDAM and 40 cases of SADS were identified. The SUDAM group were older than the SADS group; mean age 35.8 years and 27.7 years respectively (P=0.0002). There was also a higher incidence of significant psychiatric illness in SUDAM (19.7%) than SADS (2.4%) cases. Post mortem liver examination was more likely to reveal heavy livers in SUDAM than SADS (2196.1g and 1572.4g respectively; P=0.0033) and more fatty liver change (24.2% and 2.4%). SUDAM tends to occur in individuals who are older and have heavier livers than those with SADS. Psychiatric illness is also more common. SADS, unlike SUDAM, is often associated with heritable channelopathies that may affect surviving family members.