Sudden death predictors: an inflammatory association.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD), which is defined as an unexpected, usually arrhythmic death occurring in asymptomatic individuals shortly after the onset of symptoms, is responsible for more than half of the total cardiac mortality in developed countries throughout the world.1 It frequently appears as the first and only manifestation of previously undetected coronary heart disease.2 At least half these deaths occur outside a hospital setting and, according to recent Centers for Disease Control data, this proportion, as well as the overall prevalence in the United States, continues to increase.3