The link between the metabolic syndrome and sudden cardiac death

From a large database:

Clinical Perspective

What Is New?

In a longitudinal, population‐based sample of 13 168 residents from 4 US communities followed for a median of 23.6 years, participants with the metabolic syndrome had a 4.1% incidence of sudden cardiac death compared with 2.3% among participants without it.

The metabolic syndrome was independently associated with sudden cardiac death irrespective of sex or race.

Sudden cardiac death risk was proportional to the number of metabolic syndrome components.

What Are the Clinical Implications?

Sudden cardiac death risk associated with the metabolic syndrome may be reduced by treatment of high blood pressure, impaired glucose tolerance, and lipid levels.