Commotio Cordis : importance of awareness

Commotio Cordis, primarily reported by B. J. Maron since 1990, is one of the causes of sudden cardiac death. In large autopsy-based surveys performed in the United States, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy has consistently been the single most common cardiovascular cause of sudden death, accounting for high incident rates in prior reports. However, it has been suggested that the prevalence of these events is not as high in younger individuals. Commotio cordis is the second most frequent cause of sudden cardiac death, with approximately 10 to 20 cases added to the Commotio Cordis Registry yearly since the late 1990s. In patients with commotio cordis, ventricular fibrillation or complete A-V block is recognized before cardiac arrest. In recent years, survival from these incidents has increased, likely because of more rapid response times and access to defibrillation devices, as well as greater public awareness of this condition. In addition, automatic external defibrillator availability has contributed to this increase