Sudden cardiac death
by Cristopher Geiler, M.D.
• Definition
· Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a sudden and unexpected cardiac arrest (heart stops beating).
• Overview
· Sudden cardiac death (SCD) affects up to 460,000 adult Americans every year.
· Sudden cardiac death most commonly affects men age 50 to 75 years
· Sudden cardiac death is likely the result of:
· heart disease (Coronary artery disease/ plaque in the arteries around the heart)
· structural heart disease
· enlarged heart
• Types
· Heart Attack
· Sudden cardiac death can result from a heart attack which leads to a serious arrhythmia and cardiac arrest.
· Sudden cardiac death can result from a spontaneous ventricular arrhythmia (electrical short-circuiting of the heart) such as ventricular fibrillation.
· Sudden cardiac death can occur from trauma to the chest (cardiac concussion) and lead to a ventricular arrhythmia.
• Treatment
· Risk factors for heart disease should be treated such as: hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol tobacco use
· Implantable defibrillators
· Medications
References
Blunt impact to the chest leading to sudden death from cardiac arrest during sports activities. N Engl J Med 1995;333:337-342. [PMID: 7609749]
Sudden death due to cardiac arrhythmias. New Engl J Med 345:1473, 2001. [PMID: 11794197]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: State-specific mortality from sudden cardiac death-United States, 1999. MMWR 51:123-126, 2002.
Cardiac arrest and resuscitation: A tale of 29 cities. Ann Emerg Med 19:179, 1990. [PMID: 2301797]
Posted on May 2, 2009
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