Sudden Cardiac Death
Sudden cardiac death (also called sudden arrest) is death resulting from an abrupt loss of heart function (cardiac arrest). The victim may or may not have diagnosed heart disease. The time and mode of death are unexpected. It occurs within minutes after symptoms appear. The most common underlying reason for patients to die suddenly from cardiac arrest is coronary heart disease (fatty buildups in the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle).
A natural disaster hits, the power goes off and the lights go out. It’s a common scene that plays out during hurricane and tornado seasons, and it’s very similar in trying to explain sudden cardiac death. The heart sustains an insult, the electricity is short circuited, the heart can’t pump, and the body dies.
The heart is an electrical pump, where the electricity is generated in special pacemaker cells in the upper chamber, or atrium, of the heart. This electrical spark is carried through pathways in the heart so that all the muscle cells contract at once and produce a heart beat. This pumps blood through the heart valves and into all the organs of the body so that they can do their work.
In younger people, sudden death is a rare event, but since it often involves people involved in athletics, cases are often reported in the press. The most common cause is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (hypertrophy=to grow abnormally large + cardio=heart + myopathy = diseased muscle). This disease is often hereditary, and the walls of the ventricle are larger than they should be. This makes the pumping chamber of the heart smaller, and the heart has to work harder to pump blood out of the heart. As well, the thickened muscle narrows the space for the blood to flow through the aortic valve and to the rest of the body. During exercise, this decreased blood flow can irritate the heart muscle itself and cause ventricular fibrillation, collapse, and sudden death.
Anomalous coronary arteries can also cause sudden death in the young. The heart is a muscle itself, and like any muscle, it needs blood supply to provide oxygen for it to work. Normally, the coronary arteries lie on the surface of the heart. Anomalous arteries dive into the heart muscle itself and may be occluded when the heart muscle that surrounds the abnormally placed artery squeezes aggressively, as with exercise, shutting off blood supply to part of the heart. This irritates the electrical system and can cause ventricular fibrillation and sudden death.
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To be evaluated for treatment options for abnormal heart rhythms:
* Cardiology evaluation for medical management or electrophysiology procedures- Call Cardiology Appointments at toll-free 800-223-2273, extension 46697 or Click here to request an appointment online.
* Surgeon evaluation for surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation, including minimally invasive techniques or for more information, you may contact us by email, using the Contact Us Form.
* You may also use our eClevelandClinic second opinion consultation using the internet.
If you have any questions: please contact the Heart and Vascular Institute Resource and Information Center Nurse by phone at 216/445-9288 or toll-free 866/289-6911; email through our Contact Us Form; or Chat online with a Nurse. The Nurses are available between 8:30 am to 4:00 pm on regular business days.
Tags: abrupt loss, aortic valve, atrium of the heart, cardiac arrest, coronary arteries, coronary heart disease, heart function, heart muscle, heart valves, loss of heart, organs of the body, sudden cardiac death, supply blood