Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) - What is it ?

Dateline: 10/11/98

I was one of the millions who stood up and cheered when Florence Griffith Joyner won the 100 meters dash at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988. Flo Jo, with her multi-hued fingernails, had become the fastest and flashiest female sprinter in history, setting records and the fashion world on fire.

Today, ten years later, I am also one of the millions who were stunned to read about her sudden death on 21st September.

While the results of her autopsy are still awaited, reports quoted her as having suffered a "heart seizure". The 38-year-old Olympic gold medalist was found "unresponsive and not breathing" by her husband, Al Joyner, at their Mission Viejo home.

And Flo Jo isn't the only one. This decade, at least three well-known athletes died of heart-related conditions.

***** Olympic figure skating gold medalist Sergei Grinkov died during a 1995 practice session at age 28. An inherited genetic condition caused his death.

***** Loyola Marymount basketball star Hank Gathers collapsed during a game in 1990 and died. He had been sidelined that season because of a heart condition.

***** Boston Celtics forward Reggie Lewis collapsed and died while casually shooting baskets during a post-season workout in 1993. He had collapsed on the court a few months before during a playoff game

• So what is this mysterious condition that causes athletes to drop dead suddenly ?
• Can it happen to others too ?
• Can it be treated ?
• Can it be prevented ?

Over the next few weeks, I will attempt to answer these questions. This series of brief articles on the disease called Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) is my tribute to Flo Jo - an athlete who stands by herself, a name that has come to denote blazing speed, grace, flair and awesome talent.

Sudden Cardiac Death - A unique disease entity

SCD is defined as "natural death due to cardiac causes heralded by an abrupt loss of consciousness within 1 hour of the onset of acute symptoms, in a person with or without known pre-existing heart diseases, but in whom the time and mode of death are unexpected."

The key elements to this definition are that death is

• natural
• unexpected
• sudden

Recommended Reading :

Life in the Balance : Emergency Medicine and the Quest to Reverse Sudden Death
by Mickey S. Eisenberg / Hardcover / Published 1997
Buy it from Amazon.com. Visit the Heart Bookstore for more titles on SCD.

To learn more about Sudden Cardiac Death syndrome, read the next article in this series.