What causes sudden cardiac death?
Sudden cardiac death is usually caused by ventricular fibrillation (the lower chamber of the heart quivers instead of pumping in an organized rhythm). Ventricular fibrillation almost never returns to normal by itself, so the condition requires immediate intervention. Ventricular tachycardia can also lead to sudden cardiac death. The risk for SCD is higher for anyone with heart disease. The most common life-threatening arrhythmia is ventricular fibrillation, which is an erratic, disorganized firing of
impulses from the ventricles. When this occurs, the heart is unable to pump blood and death will occur within minutes, if left untreated.
All known heart diseases can lead to cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death. Most of the cardiac arrests that lead to sudden death occur when the electrical impulses in the diseased heart become rapid (ventricular tachycardia) or chaotic (ventricular fibrillation) or both. This irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) causes the heart to suddenly stop beating. Some cardiac arrests are due to extreme slowing of the heart. This is called bradycardia.
In 90 percent of adult victims of sudden cardiac death, two or more major coronary arteries are narrowed by fatty buildups. Scarring from a prior heart attack is found in two-thirds of victims. When sudden death occurs in young adults, other heart abnormalities are more likely causes. Adrenaline released during intense physical or athletic activity often acts as a trigger for sudden death when these abnormalities are present. Under certain conditions, various heart medications and other drugs — as well as illegal drug abuse — can lead to abnormal heart rhythms that cause sudden death.
The term "massive heart attack" is often wrongly used in the media to describe sudden death. The term "heart attack" refers to death of heart muscle tissue due to the loss of blood supply, not necessarily resulting in a cardiac arrest or the death of the heart attack victim. A heart attack may cause cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death, but the terms aren't synonymous. |
