Postmortem Evaluation of Adrenal and Other Endocrine Tumors in Patients With Sudden Death

Summary

Sudden Cardiac Death is a leading cause of mortality and remains a major public health burden worldwide. Cardiac arrest due to coronary heart disease explains a large proportion of the cases, but if autopsy is not performed the exact underlying cause remains obscure in many adults who face sudden death outside heath care organizations. The investigators aim to find proof that primary aldosteronism is a risk factor for sudden death and to characterize the prevalence of adrenal pathology in sudden death of undetermined cause in a case-control study. In addition, the study aims to characterize the prevalence of other adrenal pathology i.e. silent adenomas, cortisol-producing adenomas and pheochromocytomas in sudden death. The investigators also seek evidence that other endocrine hormone overproduction-causing diseases are more prevalent in persons with sudden death compared with those experiencing traumatic or suicidal death sudden death.

Conditions

• Primary Aldosteronism
• Adrenal Cushing Syndrome
• Pheochromocytoma
• Endocrine Neoplasia

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Adrenal aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) staining

Immunoshistochemical diagnosis of primary aldosteronism

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Adrenal cortisol synthase (CYP11B1) staining

Immunoshistochemical diagnosis of adrenal hypercortisolism

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Histopathological analysis

Diagnosis of any endocrine neoplasia other than primary aldosteronism or adrenal hypercortisolism

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• University of Helsinki

  collaborator OTHER

• Tampere University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Tampere University

  collaborator OTHER

• Helsinki University Central Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Niina Matikainen, MD, PhD, Assoc Prof · Helsinki University Central Hospital

Eligibility

Min Age

35 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-02-03

Primary Completion

2023-01-31

Completion

2026-12-31

Countries

• Finland

Study Locations