Improving usual care after sudden death in the young with focus on inherited cardiac diseases (the CAREFUL study): a community-based intervention study

Christian van der Werf*, Anneke Hendrix, Erwin Birnie, Michiel L. Bots, Aryan Vink, Abdennasser Bardai, Marieke T. Blom, Jan Bosch, Wendy Bruins, C. (Kees) Das, Rudolph W. Koster, Tatjana Naujocks, Balthasar Schaap, Hanno L. Tan, Ronald de Vos, Philip de Vries, Frits Woonink, Pieter A. Doevendans, Henk C. van Weert, Arthur A. M. WildeArend Mosterd, Irene M. van Langen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

AIMS: Inherited cardiac diseases play an important role in sudden death (SD) in the young. Autopsy and cardiogenetic evaluation of relatives of young SD victims identifies relatives at risk. We studied the usual care after SD in the young aimed at identifying inherited cardiac disease, and assessed the efficacy of two interventions to improve this usual care.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a community-based intervention study to increase autopsy rates of young SD victims aged 1-44 years and referral of their relatives to cardiogenetic clinics. In the Amsterdam study region, a 24/7 central telephone number and a website were available to inform general practitioners and coroners. In the Utrecht study region, they were informed by a letter and educational meetings. In two control regions usual care was monitored. Autopsy was performed in 169 of 390 registered SD cases (43.3%). Cardiogenetic evaluation of relatives was indicated in 296 of 390 cases (75.9%), but only 25 of 296 families (8.4%) attended a cardiogenetics clinic. Autopsy rates were 38.7% in the Amsterdam study region, 45.5% in the Utrecht study region, and 49.0% in the control regions. The proportion of families evaluated at cardiogenetics clinics in the Amsterdam study region, the Utrecht study region, and the control regions was 7.3, 9.9, and 8.8%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The autopsy rate in young SD cases in the Netherlands is low and few families undergo cardiogenetic evaluation to detect inherited cardiac diseases. Two different interventions did not improve this suboptimal situation substantially.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)592-601
Number of pages10
JournalEuropace
Volume18
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr-2016

Keywords

  • Sudden death
  • Sudden cardiac death
  • Sudden unexplained death syndrome
  • Genetics
  • Epidemiology
  • Autopsy
  • Family
  • Prevention
  • CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE
  • ARRHYTHMIA SYNDROMES
  • FAMILY-MEMBERS
  • UNITED-STATES
  • ARREST
  • NETHERLANDS
  • MANAGEMENT
  • NATIONWIDE
  • DIAGNOSIS
  • VICTIMS

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