Is cardiopulmonary resuscitation effective for sudden cardiac death?

Written by Chen Guang Yin
Cardiology
Updated on September 21, 2024
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Is cardiopulmonary resuscitation useful for sudden cardiac arrest? Of course, it is useful. The emergency measure for sudden cardiac arrest is to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. If the patient receives CPR within four minutes, they are very likely to survive. If there is a delay beyond four minutes, the patient’s life might still be prolonged if resuscitated, but they might suffer brain death and potentially become vegetative. Therefore, it is crucial to administer immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation to a patient experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, as this is the primary method of resuscitation.

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Written by Xie Zhi Hong
Cardiology
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Is there a difference between sudden cardiac death and myocardial infarction?

Sudden cardiac death refers to the death of patients caused by various reasons such as cardiac enlargement, ventricular aneurysm, cardiac valve dysfunction, arrhythmias, and cardiac infections. Myocardial infarction leading to myocardial death is just one type of sudden cardiac death, mainly due to insufficient cardiac blood supply, leading to arrhythmias, heart failure, shock, acute death caused by the formation of intracardiac thrombosis, or death caused by complications after a heart attack. Therefore, the range of sudden cardiac death is quite broad, including myocardial infarction.

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Written by Chen Guang Yin
Cardiology
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Is sudden cardiac death hereditary?

The majority of sudden cardiac deaths are caused by acute and extensive myocardial infarction, with some caused by malignant arrhythmias. Coronary atherosclerotic heart disease has a genetic history. Patients with such a family history, especially those with early-onset heart disease family history—that is, a family history of heart disease before the age of 50—should be given high attention. Heart disease has a genetic predisposition, and since sudden cardiac death is a type of heart disease, it also has a genetic predisposition.

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Written by Chen Guang Yin
Cardiology
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What causes cyanosis of the face and lips in sudden cardiac death?

In patients with cardiogenic sudden death, we can see that their lips turn purple, commonly referred to as cyanosis of the lips. Similarly, their faces also turn purple. This primarily results from cardiac arrest caused by cardiogenic sudden death. Once the heart stops beating, the blood supply to the entire body, including the heart, brain, kidneys, peripheral vessels, face, skin, and fingers, is halted. This leads to a state of hypoxia. The purple discoloration (cyanosis) occurs because, after the heart stops, there is no blood flow and no oxygen exchange in the blood, ultimately leading to hypoxia.

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Written by Chen Guang Yin
Cardiology
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Will there be any sequelae from cardiogenic sudden death?

So, sudden cardiac death is firstly a sudden event. Whether there are sequelae depends greatly on whether timely rescue was administered at the time of the cardiac arrest. If effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation is given within a short time, generally within 4-6 minutes, then the patient's vital signs including consciousness might gradually recover, and it's possible that no severe sequelae will remain. However, if the rescue is not timely, it's possible for the heartbeat and breathing to be restored but not consciousness, leading to brain death and a vegetative state. This is a possibility.

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Written by Chen Guang Yin
Cardiology
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Can cardiogenic sudden death be resuscitated?

If cardiogenic sudden death is promptly rescued, it is possible to save the individual. For example, if we immediately perform on-the-spot rescue after cardiogenic sudden death occurs, administering CPR within 4-6 minutes, then a large number of people can be rescued successfully. Some diseases might not even leave any sequelae. The key lies in the timing of the rescue. We say that time is life. For patients who suffer from cardiogenic sudden death, we must act immediately on the spot, wherever the sudden death occurs, to start the rescue, immediately initiating artificial respiration and external chest compressions.