Increased incidence of sudden cardiac death in systemic sclerosis: data from a nationwide cohort study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate incidence and risk factors of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods: Individuals with SSc from the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study meeting ACR/EULAR criteria were included. International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 code cause of death was sourced from the Australian National Death Index. “Presumed” SCD was defined as primary cause of death being an acute cardiovascular pathology (e.g., cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction). Between-group comparisons (presumed SCD vs. overall cohort) and multivariable Cox proportional hazard modelling were used to identify SCD associations. Results: Among 1708 SSc patients, 32 SCD events occurred (..