What’s bad for the gander . . . Women and sudden cardiac death

Sudden cardiac death (SCD), typically defined as death from a cardiac cause that occurs within one hour of the onset of symptoms in an individual without a prior condition that would appear fatal, remains a major health problem in the developed world. 1 SCD accounts for more than 60% of all cardiac deaths, with absolute numbers in the USA well in excess of 400 000 annually. 2 The majority of SCD occur in the setting of coronary heart disease (CHD) and thus populations with this condition often form the basis for SCD risk assessment. 3 A truism regarding SCD in the setting of CHD has been that women are at a significantly lower risk than men.