Re: Sudden Death of Healthy 12 year-old child

Posted By Lois on October 02, 1998 at 12:14:58:

In Reply to: Re: Sudden Death of Healthy 12 year-old child posted by CCF CARDIO MD - CRC on October 02, 1998 at 10:08:10:






My friend's healthy, robust, beautiful and intelligent 12 year-old daughter was sitting on her horse.  She suddenly sat up tall in the saddle, took a deep gasp, and just kind of slid or slithered off the horse to the ground.  She was in cardiac arrest when the paramedics arrived and she was never even revived, pronounced dead at the hospital.  Preliminary tests have left no definite indication of what happened, but the cause is believed to be a previously undetected congenital heart defect.  What kind of otherwise unnoticed congenital heart defect would go unnoticed for 12 years and then cause such a sudden and tragic death?  The family and neighborhood are devastated. Thanks for any answers you can provide.



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: Dear  Susan,
What an unfortunate tragedy.  Such cases are rare but they do occur.  Potential cardiac causes of sudden death in young people are: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (a thickening of the heart walls), myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart), arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (a congenital defect predisposing to sudden death), anomalous coronary arteries (abnormal arteries going to the heart) and other very rare conditions.
My sympathy and prayers are with this girls parents and you as you grieve.  
Information provided here is for general educational purposes only. Only your doctor can provide specific diagnoses and treatments. If you would like to be seen at the Cleveland Clinic, please Call 1 - 800 - CCF - CARE for an appointment at Desk F15 with a cardiologist.
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