Sudden cardiac death

Sudden cardiac death and sudden coronary death are different concepts. Sudden cardiac death is the broader term.

In sudden cardiac death, the cause of death may be diseases other than coronary heart disease. Sudden coronary death is a rapidly progressing, severe clinical form of coronary heart disease and accounts for 80–90% of all sudden cardiac deaths. Unlike sudden cardiac death, the cause of sudden coronary death is always coronary heart disease.

Sudden cardiac death is ventricular asystole or ventricular fibrillation occurring in the absence of prior symptoms suggesting coronary disease.

Signs:

mottled (marbled) skin

dilated pupils

absence of breathing

the "cat's eye" sign appears

undetectable blood pressure

absent pulse in the major arteries

no response to light and absence of other reflexes

Sudden cardiac death accounts for 70% of all sudden deaths (stroke, thromboembolism, rupture of large vessels, etc.). In most cases, sudden cardiac death is caused by a heart rhythm disorder and occurs outside the hospital, within a period ranging from a few seconds to one hour (some sources say 24 hours), in people who had no serious health problems recently.

Risk factors:

Being under constant stress

Chronic heart failure

Heart muscle diseases with cardiac enlargement

Uncontrolled use of certain medications that disturb heart rhythm