Analysis of sudden unexpected death in southern Ontario, with emphasis on myocarditis

The records of all 2427 autopsies performed at the Brantford (Ont.) General and Paris (Ont.) Willett hospitals from Jan. 1, 1969 to Aug. 15, 1978 were reviewed. Of the 1299 cases of sudden unexpected death investigated by a coroner almost 28% were due to unnatural causes--violence or poisoning. The main cause of natural sudden death was coronary artery disease, which accounted for 43.3% of all the sudden unexpected deaths. In 20 cases the cause of death was thought to be viral myocarditis, and in 9 of the 20 there was serologic evidence of at least previous coxsackievirus disease. Two of the nine cases were of special interest because of the finding of giant-cell myocarditis in one and aortic valve disease in the other. Eleven of the 20 persons were aged 13 to 46 years. These findings support the view that the most serious manifestation of enterovirus infection today is cardiac damage by coxsackieviruses.