The pathology of sudden cardiac death in patients with ischemic heart disease--arrhythmology for anatomic pathologists.

The goal of this review is to help anatomic pathologists interpret the significance of pathologic changes in the hearts of patients with coronary artery disease who died suddenly of spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias. Attention is focused on dynamic interactions between triggering events, such as acute ischemia, and stable anatomic substrates of arrhythmias, such as healed myocardial infarcts. A basic knowledge of arrhythmia mechanisms is necessary to understand the role of pathologic anatomy in the pathophysiology of sudden death.