Foreword udden death is defined as unexpected, nontraumatic death occurring within 1 hour of the onset of new or worsening symptoms (witnessed arrest) or, if unwitnessed, within 24 hours of last seen alive. It accounts for up to 400,000 deaths in the United States. Most sudden deaths are related to arrhythmias secondary to structural heart disease or to primary electrical abnormalities of the heart. By definition, a patient with sudden cardiac death does not survive. If the patient survives, it is termed aborted sudden cardiac death or sudden cardiac arrest. Therefore, it is an extremely important event that is related to several disorders and diseases and is a complex event. Professor Mitchell and his colleagues from the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, have presented a superb and comprehensive review of the topic; it has 156 references. The Editorial Board and I are grateful to the authors for this outstanding review.

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Shahbudin H. Rahimtoola, MD Editor

Curr Probl Cardiol 2015;40:131. 0146-2806/$ – see front matter http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2015.01.001

Curr Probl Cardiol, April 2015

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