Introduction: sudden death presently represents one of the main challenges for the health care systems worldwide due to high incidence, dramatic presentation and life years prematurely lost as a result of this event. Objective: to describe the background of the creation of the research group on sudden death in Cuba twenty years ago, and to show its most significant results. Methods: a documentary review of the first 20 years of scientific research work performed by the Research Group on Sudden Death in Cuba (1995-2014). Results: twenty four thousand eight hundred and seventy six deaths of natural causes were studied and applied a diagnostic algorithm to document 1 953 events of sudden cardiovascular death accounting for 7.8 % of recorded global mortality. In the studied casuistry, 98.1 % went to 14 municipalities from 11 provinces. The studies showed increased probabilities for this event in patients suffering blood hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, ischemia, previous myocardial necrosis, smoking, left ventricle thickening, and lipid profile impairment. Conclusions: the creation of the Research Group on Sudden Death allowed in the last twenty years designing and performing scientific research studies aimed at the epidemiological characterization of this health problem in Cuba and those are useful elements to draw up intervention strategies to significantly reduce the incidence and the economic, family and social impact of this event.

Introducción: la muerte súbita representa en la actualidad uno de los principales desafíos para los sistemas sanitarios a nivel mundial dada su elevada incidencia, dramatismo en su presentación y años de vida que se pierden prematuramente como consecuencia de esta entidad. Objetivo: describir los antecedentes de la creación hace 20 años del Grupo de Investigación en Muerte Súbita en Cuba y mostrar sus resultados más significativos. Método: se realizó una revisión documental de los primeros 20 años de trabajo de investigación científica del Grupo de Investigación en Muerte Súbita en Cuba (1995-2014). Resultados: se estudiaron 24 758 muertes naturales a las cuales se les aplicó un algoritmo diagnóstico para documentar 1 953 eventos de muerte súbita cardiovascular, que representaron el 7,8 % de la mortalidad global registrada. El 98,1 % de la casuística investigada correspondió a 14 municipios de la provincia La Habana. El 2 % restante incluyó 26 municipios de 11 provincias del país. Los estudios han demostrado un incremento en la probabilidad para este evento en pacientes con hipertensión arterial, obesidad, diabetes mellitus, cardiopatía isquémica, necrosis miocárdica previa, tabaquismo, engrosamiento ventricular izquierdo y alteración del perfil lipídico. Conclusiones: la creación del Grupo de Investigación en Muerte Súbita ha permitido, en los últimos 20 años, el diseño y ejecución de investigaciones científicas encaminadas a la caracterización epidemiológica de este problema de salud en Cuba, elementos útiles para trazar estrategias de intervención que permitan lograr una disminución sensible en la incidencia e impacto económico, familiar y social de esta entidad.

Introduction: sudden death presently represents one of the main challenges for the health care systems worldwide due to high incidence, dramatic presentation and life years prematurely lost as a result of this event. Objective: to describe the background of the creation of the research group on sudden death in Cuba twenty years ago, and to show its most significant results. Methods: a documentary review of the first 20 years of scientific research work performed by the Research Group on Sudden Death in Cuba (1995-2014). Results: twenty four thousand eight hundred and seventy six deaths of natural causes were studied and applied a diagnostic algorithm to document 1 953 events of sudden cardiovascular death accounting for 7.8 % of recorded global mortality. In the studied casuistry, 98.1 % went to 14 municipalities from 11 provinces. The studies showed increased probabilities for this event in patients suffering blood hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, ischemia, previous myocardial necrosis, smoking, left ventricle thickening, and lipid profile impairment. Conclusions: the creation of the Research Group on Sudden Death allowed in the last twenty years designing and performing scientific research studies aimed at the epidemiological characterization of this health problem in Cuba and those are useful elements to draw up intervention strategies to significantly reduce the incidence and the economic, family and social impact of this event.

Objective: to determine the atherosclerotic vascular risk profile in patients who died of sudden cardiac death, treated in "Julio Trigo López" Hospital during the period 2007- 2011. Methods: an observational, analytical, and non-matched case-control study was conducted. Results: some atherosclerotic vascular risk factors were expressed significantly in the group of patients who died of sudden cardiac deaths (hypertension, smoking, obesity, ischemic heart disease, left ventricular hypertrophy, alcoholism). It was confirmed that the existence of 3 or more factors exponentially increases the risk of sudden cardiac death on total cardiovascular mortality. A significant presence of coronary atherosclerotic lesions was found in both groups, which determined the onset of coronary thrombosis and/or acute myocardial infarction that predominated in sudden deaths. Conclusions: there were no specific risk factors for sudden cardiac death. Some of them showed an increased probability for this type of event. The search for a risk profile for sudden cardiac death should be oriented to the research design which would include vital statistics of global mortality and not the specific causes (cardiovascular).

Objetivo: determinar el perfil de riesgo vascular aterosclerótico en los fallecidos por muerte cardíaca súbita atendidos en el Hospital "Julio Trigo López" en el período 2007-2011. Métodos: estudio observacional, analítico, de casos y controles no pareados. Resultados: algunos factores de riesgo vasculares ateroscleróticos se expresaron de forma significativa en el grupo de fallecidos por causas cardíacas súbitas (hipertensión arterial, tabaquismo, obesidad, cardiopatía isquémica, hipertrofia ventricular izquierda, alcoholismo). Se corroboró que la existencia de 3 o más factores eleva exponencialmente el riesgo de muerte cardíaca súbita sobre la mortalidad cardiovascular total. Se halló presencia significativa de lesiones ateroscleróticas coronarias en ambos grupos, que determinaron la aparición de trombosis coronaria y/o infarto agudo del miocardio, con predominio en las muertes súbitas. Conclusiones: no existieron factores de riesgo específicos para la muerte cardíaca súbita. Algunos de estos mostraron un incremento en la probabilidad para este tipo de evento. La búsqueda de un perfil de riesgo en fallecidos de muerte cardíaca súbita debe ir orientada al diseño de investigaciones donde se incluyan las estadísticas vitales de mortalidad global y no por causas específicas (cardiovasculares).