The ReCaPTa study - a prospective out of hospital cardiac arrest registry including multiple sources of surveillance for the study of sudden cardiac death in the Mediterranean area.

Background Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death in the industrialized world. Sudden cardiac death is very often the first manifestation of the disease and it occurs in the prehospital setting. The determination of the sudden cardiac death phenotype is challenging. It requires prospective studies in the community including multiple sources of case ascertainment that help to identify the cause and circumstances of death. The aim of the Clinical and Pathological Registry of Tarragona (ReCaPTa) is to study incidence and etiology of Sudden Cardiac Death in the Tarragona region (Catalonia, Spain).