As its name implies, sudden cardiac arrest is a condition that happens suddenly and often without warning. During this life-threatening emergency, the heart suddenly stops beating due to an irregular heart rhythm. This causes a person to stop breathing and prevents blood from flowing to the brain and other vital organs. If not treated immediately, sudden cardiac arrest can lead to death.
Treatment requires defibrillation, which sends a shock to the heart to restore its normal rhythm. This can be done by almost anyone using an automated external defibrillator (AED), if one is available, or by medical personnel. While waiting for emergency medical care, doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may save a person’s life.
Sudden cardiac arrest usually happens with no warning. However, a person may experience symptoms before it happens, including chest discomfort, shortness of breath, heart palpitations (a fast, fluttering or pounding heart beat) or weakness. When the event occurs, the person will suddenly collapse, lose consciousness, stop breathing and have no pulse.
It is not possible to predict if and when someone will go into sudden cardiac arrest. You may be more at risk if you have heart conditions such as coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, cardiomyopathy, a congenital heart defect or heart arrhythmias. However, sudden cardiac arrest can happen to people who have no known heart problems.
One cause of sudden cardiac arrest, especially in younger people, is a heart arrhythmia called long QT syndrome. Genetic tests can be done to see if you have the long QT gene. Other causes, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and congenital heart defects, may also put young people at risk. Although this life-threatening condition is rare in younger people, we’ve likely all heard or seen instances of athletes who suddenly collapse on the field or court. That’s why many athletic programs require or recommend a cardiac evaluation that includes a physical exam, assessment of family and personal health histories, and in some cases, electrocardiography (ECG).
Because it’s not easy to predict who may experience sudden cardiac arrest, there is no sure-fire way to prevent it. Keeping your heart as healthy as possible may lower your risk, just as it lowers your risk for other serious heart issues such as a heart attack. This includes things like eating healthy, getting regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, controlling blood pressure and cholesterol and getting regular check-ups.
Since the stakes are so high if sudden cardiac arrest occurs, the best protection is to know CPR and have access to an AED (and to hope that others have this knowledge if sudden cardiac arrest happens to you). If a person is considered to be at high risk of sudden cardiac arrest, it may be recommended that they get an implantable cardiac defibrillator, which is a small battery-operated device that is placed in the chest and can shock the heart back into normal rhythm if needed.
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Date Last Reviewed: August 19, 2024
Editorial Review: Andrea Cohen, Editorial Director, Baldwin Publishing, Inc. Contact Editor
Medical Review: Perry Pitkow, MD
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