Sudden Cardiac Arrest: Know the Signs and Your Risks

Your heart is a muscle, but you may not realize that it also has an electric signaling system. When the electrical activity in your heart stops suddenly, your heart stops working and can’t pump blood through your body. 

Our specialists at Pinnacle Healthcare System provide both cardiology and electrophysiology services, which means we can treat both the electrical system and the muscle of your heart. Patients with certain kinds of heart problems often need both kinds of specialized care in order to protect themselves in the event of sudden cardiac arrest. 

Heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest

Although people may say that someone who experienced sudden cardiac arrest had a heart attack, it’s inaccurate. A heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest aren’t the same. 

A heart attack is when a blockage stops blood flow to the heart. The heart muscle can be damaged during a heart attack, and in some instances it can be fatal. 

Sudden cardiac arrest is a malfunction of the electrical signaling system, and your heart can’t beat, so blood isn’t pumped through it or to the rest of your body at all — it is “arrested.” 

The seriousness of sudden cardiac arrest

Any heart issue is serious, but sudden cardiac arrest can cause death if you don’t get care immediately. When a person experiences sudden cardiac arrest, they collapse or appear to be having a seizure. 

Death occurs in mere minutes without proper care. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly known as CPR, calling 911, and using an automated external defibrillator (AED) are the best ways to save someone who has had sudden cardiac arrest. 

For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, your chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest decrease by 7-10%. In fact, only about 10% of people survive sudden cardiac arrest. 

Are you at risk? 

Although it’s possible for anyone to have sudden cardiac arrest, some people have a greater risk than others. 

The most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest is a type of arrhythmia called ventricular fibrillation, which is when erratic signals to the lower chambers of your heart cause it to quiver instead of pumping blood. 

Here are some conditions that raise your risk of sudden cardiac arrest: 

• Coronary artery disease
• Having a previous heart attack
• Cardiomyopathy or having an enlarged heart
• Heart valve disease
• A congenital heart defect
• Long QT syndrome, or other electrical problems in your heart
• Having an abnormal heart rhythm
• Heart failure

What you should do if you’re at risk

If you have any of the risk factors for sudden cardiac arrest, take some steps to protect yourself. Understanding what sudden cardiac arrest is and how it looks is a good first step, and knowing your own risks can be helpful. 

Under some circumstances, we may recommend an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). An ICD works similarly to an AED, but it’s implanted in your body and continuously monitors your heartbeat. 

If you have an abnormal rhythm, the ICD sends an electrical impulse through your heart to force it back into a normal rhythm. 

If you’d like to learn more about your risk of sudden cardiac arrest, or if you have questions about an ICD, schedule an appointment at our Hollywood or Pembroke Pines, Florida, office. We’re happy to discuss what you can do in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.