PATHOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY OF CARDIAC SYNCOPE AND SUDDEN DEATH

Abstract

Cardiac syncope is sudden loss of consciousness due to cerebral anemia of cardiac origin. Sudden "cardiac death" may be considered as fatal cardiac syncope. PATHOLOGY OF CARDIAC SYNCOPE AND SUDDEN DEATH Temporary loss of consciousness in cardiac disease is usually associated with complete heart block, i. e., the Adams-Stokes syndrome. Careful histologic examination of the myocardium is frequently required to discover the myocardial lesion, which consists in most instances of fibrosis affecting the junctional tissues. The remainder of the myocardium usually shows only minimal changes. Sudden death is a prominent feature of disease of the coronary arteries. In a previous analysis¹ of 113 autopsies at which occlusive coronary disease was noted, the clinical picture was congestive heart failure in approximately 40 per cent and sudden death without congestive heart failure in 60 per cent. In most of the cases of the latter group the clinical syndrome of angina pectoris