Cardiac disease and probable intent after drowning

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of cardiac disease and its relationship to the victim's probable intent among patients with cardiac arrest due to drowning. Method: Retrospective autopsied drowning cases reported to the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine between 1990 and 2010 were included, alongside reported and treated out-of-hospital cardiac arrests due to drowning from the Swedish Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry that matched events in the National Board of Forensic Medicine registry (n = 272). Results: Of 2166 drowned victims, most (72%) were males; the median age was 58 years (interquartile range, 42-71 years). Drowning was determined to be accidental in 55%, suicidal in 28%, and murder in 0.5%, whereas the intent was unclear in 16%. A contributory cause of death was found in 21%, and cardiac disease as a possible contributor was found in 9% of all autopsy cases. Coronary artery sclerosis (5%) and myocardial infarction (2%) were most frequent. Overall, cardiac disease was found in 14% of all accidental drownings, as compared with no cases (0%) in the suicide group; P = .05. Ventricular fibrillation was found to be similar in both cardiac and noncardiac cases (7%). This arrhythmia was found in 6% of accidents and 11% of suicides (P = .23). Conclusion: Among 2166 autopsied cases of drowning, more than half were considered to be accidental, and less than one-third, suicidal. Among accidents, 14% were found to have a cardiac disease as a possible contributory factor; among suicides, the proportion was 0%. The low proportion of cases showing ventricular fibrillation was similar, regardless of the presence of a cardiac disease. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.