Acute Cardiac Death of Unknown Etiology A Preliminary Report

Abstract

(1) Investigation was made on 283 cases which were decided as "acute cardiac death of unknown etiology" (the so called "Pokkuri disease" in Japanese) by autopsy at the Tokyo Medical Examiner Office.
(2) Apparently healthy young males were most common among the groups and they died abruptly during sleep at night. The cause of death was not found by autopsy or biochemical examination.
(3) Our subjects were different from the "acute cardiac sudden death of unknown etiology" reported in Europe and America. Deaths similar to that found in our country are not reported in such countries.
(4) From our study, the neurohumoral system, especially the adrenal gland and the autonomic nervous system appear to play an important role in the causative mechanism of "acute cardiac death of unknown etiology."