Sudden Death in Children and Adolescents

Sudden death in childhood is rare. About 10% of paediatric deaths after the first year of life are sudden and population based studies put the individual age related risk at around 1:20 000 to 1:50 000 per year. w1–3 About half of these deaths are related to a previously known abnormality, the most common being epilepsy, asthma, and cardiovascular abnormalities. Another third are attributed to an abnormality discovered at necropsy, usually either an infection or a cardiovascular abnormality. At least one sudden death in six remains unexplained, but this is almost certainly an underestimate as some deaths attributed by the coroner’s pathologist to epilepsy or respiratory infection are probably more accurately described as being unexplained by findings at necropsy. w4