The Fingesture study (Finnish Genetic Study for Arrhythmic Events) has collected clinical and autopsy data from 5869 successive sudden cardiac death (SCD) victims from the geographical defined area of Oulu University Hospital District in Northern Finland since 1998. A medicolegal autopsy was performed on all SCD victims in the Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, and the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland by experienced forensic pathologists, making use of contemporary guidelines for diagnosis of the death cause. The hearts of the SCD victims were meticulously inspected, including measurements of cardiac weight macroscopic dissection and examination of the myocardium, coronary arteries and valves, and histological examination of three to five myocardial samples. The genetic data includes whole exome sequencing of 223 SCD victims who have either primary myocardial fibrosis or myocardial fibrosis accompanied by hypertrophy.

2024