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Many cases of sudden death do not result in autopsy and are assumed to be of cardiac origin. A San Francisco team obtained detailed information (including autopsies) at the time of death in 335 cases categorized as “sudden cardiac death” by the medical examiner that occurred during 25 months in 2011 through 2013.
Eighteen cases (5.4%) were judged to be sudden neurological deaths caused by intracranial hemorrhage (8), epilepsy (6), aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (2), acute ischemic stroke (1), and aspiration in a patient with Huntington disease (1). Patients with histories of stroke or transient ischemic attack were not at significantly greater risk for neurological death than were other patients (although the study was underpowered to ac…