Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac arrest is the sudden, abrupt and unexpected loss of heart function. It is not necessary to have a heart disease diagnosed already by the patient. Sudden death can be occurred within minutes after symptoms are appeared. The warning signs of cardiac arrest are loss of consciousness, abnormal breathing, and loss of pulse and blood pressure.

The irregular heart rhythm is a core reason of the cardiac arrest. When the heart beats very fast, called tachycardia, the electrical impulses become rapid and heart stops beating suddenly. Sometimes extremely slow heart beat, called bradycardia, also becomes the reason of cardiac arrest. The most cardiac arrests lead to sudden death. Other factors belonging to cardiac arrest apart from the heart diseases include respiratory arrest, electrocution, drowning, choking and trauma. Cardiac arrest can occur following heart attack or without any known cause as well.

Cardiac arrest is a dangerous and risky problem. Brain death or premature death can occur within 4 to 6 minutes after the strike. The electric shock called defibrillation to the heart is given to restore the normal heart beat. In some cases, it can be reversed reducing chances of survival of patient every time it strikes. It is estimated that more than 95 victims of cardiac arrest loss their life before reaching to hospital in United States.

The precautions to recognize the illness through the symptoms mentioned above can facilitate a lot to save a life. The urgent medical care should be sought in case symptoms are appeared. After the cardiac arrest, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is necessary. CPR continues the supply of oxygenated blood to the brain, hence, decreasing the chances of neurological damage. The only effective treatment for this problem is defibrillation (electrical shock) with a combination of early advanced care. Patients that survive cardiac arrest are advised to have Mild Therapeutic Hypothermia by a variety of methods in order to improve the survival and neurologic damage.