Coronary disease & ACSCohort study
Minimal extra-cardiac atherosclerosis present in young people with sudden cardiac death due to coronary artery disease
- Retrospective cohort study
- state-wide registry
- autopsy-based
Authors' conclusion
Fewer than one in five people aged 1-50 years experiencing SCD from a coronary cause exhibited extra-coronary plaque, suggesting that in young people, severe atherosclerosis is not necessarily a concurrent systemic disease.
Study context
- Population
- Individuals aged 1–50 years with sudden cardiac death (SCD) autopsy-proven due to CAD, End Unexplained Cardiac Death (EndUCD) registry, 2019 to 2023of 3044 SCD
- Participants
- 356 individuals
- Exposure
- Extra-coronary plaque vs no extra-coronary plaque
- Extra-coronary plaquen = 62
- Outcome
- Presence of extra-coronary atherosclerosis greater than modified AHA Class III in four arterial beds
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Extra-coronary plaque
- Any extra-coronary plaque
- 62 (17.4%)
- Aorta
- n = 61 patients, 17.1%
- Carotid arteries
- n = 9, 2.5%
- Iliofemoral arteries
- n = 11, 3.1%
- Renal arteries
- n = 6 patients, 1.7%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | P value |
|---|---|
| Features associated with extra-coronary plaque — Extra-coronary plaque vs No extra-coronary plaque · age, median 47.8 vs. 44.4 years | P = 0.0002 |
| Features associated with extra-coronary plaque — Extra-coronary plaque vs No extra-coronary plaque · hypertension 30.7 vs. 18.7% | P = 0.035 |
| Features associated with extra-coronary plaque — Extra-coronary plaque vs No extra-coronary plaque · cardiomegaly 67.9 vs. 50.7% | P = 0.019 |
| Features associated with extra-coronary plaque — Extra-coronary plaque vs No extra-coronary plaque · cardiac fibrosis indicative of previous MI 46.8 vs. 31.0% | P = 0.017 |
| Features associated with extra-coronary plaque — Extra-coronary plaque vs No extra-coronary plaque · multi-vessel coronary disease 71.7 vs. 55.9% | P = 0.024 |
Original publication
Minimal extra-cardiac atherosclerosis present in young people with sudden cardiac death due to coronary artery disease. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 4 November 2025. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf615
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it