Introduction: Sudden death (SD) is defined by World Health Organization (WHO) as ‘death within 24 hours from onset of the symptoms’.1 It is by definition natural and it excludes all deaths due to poison and trauma. The incidence of sudden cardiac death has been steadily increasing all over the world. When SD occurs in adults and elderly persons, coronary atherosclerosis is the usual cause. These diseases are frequently concealed and discovered with surprise only at post mortem using macroscopic and microscopic examination of heart. Methods: Present study is a retrospective study, conducted in the department of Pathology, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre Bengaluru from July 2016 to June 2020. Patients of all age groups who died within 24 hours from the onset of symptoms were included. Results: A total of 483 autopsy cases were received for histopathological examination, among which there were 134 cases with history of sudden death during the study period. Age distribution ranged from 6 days to 86 years. In our study we observed male preponderance. Maximum number of cases was observed in 31 to 40 years of age. Major causes for sudden deaths observed were coronary artery diseases in 98 cases (73%) followed by pulmonary causes in 12 cases (8.96%). Conclusion: Present study highlighted the presence of increasing cases of sudden deaths among young males compared to developed countries. This will emphasize the need for research studies to find out the cause and early interventional measures to prevent the same.

Keywords: Sudden death; Autopsy; Histopathological findings.