Description

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the sudden loss of all heart activity due to an irregular heart rhythm. The breathing stops. The person is unconscious. Without immediate treatment, sudden cardiac arrest can lead to death.

The emergency treatment for the sudden cardiac arrest includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and shock in the heart with a device called an automated external defibrillator (AED). Survival is possible with fast, appropriate medical care.

Sudden cardiac arrest is not the same as that of a heart attack. A heart attack occurs when blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked. Sudden cardiac arrest is not due to an obstruction. However, a heart attack can cause a change in the electrical activity of the heart that leads to a sudden cardiac arrest.

Symptoms

The symptoms of a sudden cardiac arrest is immediate and severe, and include:

  • Sudden collapse.
  • No pulse.
  • No breathing.
  • The loss of consciousness.

Sometimes other symptoms are present before a sudden cardiac arrest. These may include:

  • Discomfort in the chest.
  • Shortness of breath.
  • The weakness.
  • Fast heartbeat, palpitations or pounding heartbeat, called palpitations.

But a sudden cardiac arrest often occurs without notice.

When to see a doctor

When the heart stops, the lack of oxygen-rich blood can quickly cause death or permanent brain damage.

Call 911 or emergency medical services for these symptoms:

  • Chest pain or discomfort.
  • Sensation of a pounding heartbeat.
  • Rapid or irregular heartbeats.
  • Unexplained wheezing.
  • Shortness of breath.
  • Fainting or near fainting.
  • Dizziness or lightheadedness.

If you see someone who is unconscious and not breathing, call 911 or your local emergency services. Then, start cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The American Heart Association recommends that you perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation with the hard and fast chest compressions. The use of an automatic external defibrillator, called an AED, if available.

How to perform CPR

Do CPR if the person is not breathing. Push hard and fast on the chest of the person — about 100 to 120 pushes a minute. The thrusts are called compressions. If you have been trained in CPR, check the airways. After giving breaths of rescue after every 30 compressions.

If you have not been trained, just continue with the chest compressions. Let the chest rise completely between each press. Continue doing this until an AED is available or emergency workers arrive.

Portable automated external defibrillators, called Eda, and are available in many public places, like airports and shopping malls. You can also buy one for home use. Fae come with voice instructions for use. They are programmed to allow a shock only when it is appropriate.

Causes

A change in the electrical activity of the heart because of a sudden cardiac arrest. The change causes the heart to stop pumping blood. There is No flow of blood that goes to the body.

How the heart beats

To understand a sudden cardiac arrest, can help you to know more about the heart of the signaling system.

The electrical signals in the heart to control the speed and rhythm of the heartbeat. Defective or extra electrical signals that can cause the heart to beat too fast, too slow or in an uncoordinated way. The changes in heart rate are called arrhythmias. Some arrhythmias are brief and harmless. Others can lead to a sudden cardiac arrest.

Heart conditions that can lead to a sudden cardiac arrest

The most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest is an irregular heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. Fast, erratic, in the heart of the signals cause the lower chambers of the heart to quiver uselessly instead of pumping blood. Some diseases of the heart can make you more likely to have this type of irregular heartbeat.

However, sudden cardiac arrest can occur in people who do not have heart disease.

Conditions of the heart that can cause sudden cardiac arrest include:

  • Disease of the coronary artery. Sudden cardiac arrest can occur if the heart arteries become clogged with cholesterol and other deposits, reducing blood flow to the heart.
  • Heart attack. If a heart attack occurs, often as a result of severe coronary artery disease, it can trigger ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac arrest. Also, a heart attack can leave scars on the heart. The scar tissue can cause changes in heart rhythm.
  • Enlargement of the heart called cardiomyopathy. This condition occurs when the walls of the heart muscle stretch. The heart muscle becomes bigger or thicker.
  • Heart valve disease. Leaking or narrowing of the valves of the heart can lead to a tightening or thickening of the heart muscle. When the cameras get bigger or weak due to stress caused by a tight or leakage of the valve, there is a greater risk of developing an irregular heartbeat.
  • Condition of the heart that are present at birth is called a congenital defect of the heart. A sudden cardiac arrest in children or adolescents is often due to a heart condition that you are born with. Adults who have had a surgical repair of a congenital heart defect also have a higher risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
  • Long QT syndrome (LQTS) and other heart-signaling conditions. Conditions such as long QT syndrome and Brugada syndrome cause the heart to beat in a way that is disorganized. If the heart rhythm is not restored quickly, the sudden death may occur. Young people with LQTS are especially at risk of sudden death.

Risk factors

The same things that increase the risk of heart disease can increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. These include:

  • A family history of coronary artery disease.
  • The habit of smoking.
  • The high blood pressure.
  • High cholesterol in the blood.
  • Obesity.
  • Diabetes.
  • An inactive lifestyle.

Other things that may increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest include:

  • A previous episode of sudden cardiac arrest or a family history of the same.
  • A previous heart attack.
  • A personal or family history of other forms of heart disease, such as the heart rate of the disease, heart failure and heart disease is present from birth.
  • Each time higher.
  • The fact of being a man.
  • The use of illicit drugs such as cocaine or amphetamines.
  • Low levels of potassium and magnesium.
  • A sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea.
  • Chronic kidney disease.

Complications

When sudden cardiac arrest occurs, less blood flows to the brain. If the heart rate is not quickly restored, the complications can include brain damage and death.

Prevention

Keep your heart healthy can help prevent sudden cardiac arrest. Take these steps:

  • Eat healthy.
  • Stay active and exercise regularly.
  • Do not smoke or use tobacco.
  • Have regular check-ups.
  • Get screened for heart disease.
  • Control of blood pressure and cholesterol.

Genetic tests can be done to see if you have the long QT syndrome, a common cause of sudden cardiac death. Check with your insurance company to see if it is covered. If you have the long-QT gene, your health care professional may recommend that other members of the family can also be tested.

If you have a known risk of a heart attack, your health care professional may recommend a heart device called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). The device, which is placed below the clavicle.

You may also want to consider the purchase of an automated external defibrillator (AED) for use in the home. Talk with your health care team. Fae help restore the rhythm of the heart when a person has a sudden cardiac arrest. But it can be expensive and not always covered by health insurance.

Diagnosis

Sudden cardiac arrest occurs suddenly and requires emergency medical attention in a hospital. If the heart is restored quickly, the survival is possible. When you are stable, health-care professionals in the hospital to run tests to determine the cause.

Tests

The tests are performed to help learn how the heart pumps the blood and diseases that affect the heart.

Tests for sudden cardiac arrest, often include:

  • Blood tests. Some proteins will slowly leak into the blood after heart damage from a heart attack. Blood tests may be done to check these proteins. Blood tests are also done to check the levels of potassium, magnesium, hormones and other chemicals in the body that affects the heart's ability to function.
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). This quick and painless test checks the electrical activity of the heart. Sensors, called electrodes, are attached in the chest and sometimes the arms and legs. An ECG can tell how fast or slow the heart is beating. The test may show changes in the heart rhythm that increases the risk of sudden death.
  • The echocardiogram. The sound waves create images of the heart in motion. This test can show how blood flows through the heart and the heart valves. You can display the affections of the heart valves and heart muscle damage.
  • The ejection fraction. This test is performed during an echocardiogram. It is a measure of the percentage of blood leaving the heart each time it is pressed. A typical ejection fraction is 50% to 70%. An ejection fraction less than 40%, increases the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
  • X-ray of the chest. This test shows the size and shape of the heart and lungs. It can also show if you have heart failure.
  • Nuclear Scan. This test is usually performed with a stress test. Helps to see the changes in the flow of blood to the heart. Small amounts of radioactive material called a tracer, is administered INTRAVENOUSLY. Special cameras can see the radioactive material as it flows through the heart and lungs.
  • The cardiac catheterization.This test can show blockages in the arteries of the heart. A long, thin, flexible tube called a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel, usually in the groin or the wrist, and guided to the heart. Contrast dye flows through the catheter into the arteries in the heart. The dye helps the arteries to show up more clearly on X-ray images and video. A treatment called balloon angioplasty can be done during this test to treat a blockage. If a blockage is found, the doctor may try to put a tube called a stent to keep the artery open.

The cardiac catheterization. This test can show blockages in the arteries of the heart. A long, thin, flexible tube called a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel, usually in the groin or the wrist, and guided to the heart. Contrast dye flows through the catheter into the arteries in the heart. The dye helps the arteries to show up more clearly on X-ray images and video.

A treatment called balloon angioplasty can be done during this test to treat a blockage. If a blockage is found, the doctor may try to put a tube called a stent to keep the artery open.

Treatment

The treatment of sudden cardiac death include:

  • CPR. Immediate CPR is necessary to treat sudden cardiac arrest and avoid death.
  • To reset the heart rhythm. This is called defibrillation. You can do this through the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), if available. It is found in many public places.
  • Medicines to treat irregular heartbeats and to manage symptoms.
  • Heart procedure or surgery to replace heart devices or to treat a blockage.

In the emergency room, health professionals run-testing to verify the cause, such as a possible heart attack, heart failure, or changes in the levels of electrolytes. The treatments depend on the cause.

Drugs

Medications can be used to help restore the heart rhythm. These drugs are called anti-arrhythmic drugs.

Other medications that can be used to treat the causes of sudden cardiac death or decrease the risk of which include:

  • Beta-blockers.
  • Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.
  • Calcium channel blockers.

Surgery or other procedures

Surgeries and other treatments may be necessary to correct an irregular heartbeat, open a blockage, or place a device to help the heart work better. They may include:

  • An Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). An ICD is a battery-the unit that is placed under the skin near the collarbone — similar to a pacemaker. The ICD continuously checks the heart rhythm. If the device finds an irregular heartbeat, sends shock to reset the heart's rhythm. You can stop a life-threatening change in the heart rhythm.
  • Coronary angioplasty.Also called percutaneous coronary intervention, this treatment opens blocked or blocked arteries of the heart. It can be done at the same time as a coronary catheterization, a test that doctors do to find the narrowing of the arteries of the heart. The doctor inserts a thin flexible tube into a blood vessel, usually in the groin, and moves to the area of the obstruction. A small balloon at the tip of the tube is dilated. This opens the artery and improving blood flow to the heart. A metal mesh tube called a stent may be passed through the tube. The stent remains in the artery and helps to keep it open.
  • Coronary artery bypass surgery. Also called coronary artery bypass graft surgery, or CABG, this surgery creates a new pathway for the flow of blood around a blocked artery to the heart. This restores the flow of blood to the heart.
  • Radiofrequency catheter ablation. This treatment is performed to block a heart defect in the signaling pathway. A change in the heart of signaling can cause irregular heart beats. One or more flexible tubes called catheters are inserted through a blood vessel and guided to the heart. The heat, the so-called radio frequency energy and, at the end of the catheter is used to create small scars on the heart. The scars of the block to the spot of the heart signals.
  • Corrective heart surgery. You can perform a surgery to correct conditions of the heart that are present at birth, heart valve disease or diseased heart muscle.

Coronary angioplasty. Also called percutaneous coronary intervention, this treatment opens blocked or blocked arteries of the heart. It can be done at the same time as a coronary catheterization, a test that doctors do to find the narrowing of the arteries of the heart.

The doctor inserts a thin flexible tube into a blood vessel, usually in the groin, and moves to the area of the obstruction. A small balloon at the tip of the tube is dilated. This opens the artery and improving blood flow to the heart.

A metal mesh tube called a stent may be passed through the tube. The stent remains in the artery and helps to keep it open.

Lifestyle and home remedies

The prevention of sudden cardiac arrest starts with keeping the heart and blood vessels in good condition. Live in the heart of a healthy lifestyle:

  • Do not smoke.
  • Exercise regularly and stay active.
  • Maintain a healthy weight.
  • Limit the consumption of alcohol. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation, no more than one drink a day for women and men over 65 years and no more than two drinks a day for men younger.
  • Eating a heart-healthy diet.
  • Manage stress.

Training

If you live with someone who is at risk of sudden cardiac arrest, it is important that you are trained in CPR. The American Red Cross and other organizations offer courses in CPR and defibrillator use.

Being trained to not only help your loved one, but your training can help others. The more people know what to do in a heart emergency, the greater the survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest is likely to be.

Symptoms and treatment of Sudden cardiac arrest