Sudden Cardiac Arrest How Timely Action Brought a Person Back to Life
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a condition in which the heart stops suddenly, and as a result, the flow of blood to the brain and other vital organs stop. SCA, if not treated within 8 minutes, can lead to deprivation of oxygen to brain and eventually to the death of the individual. This is the reason why Kauvery Hospital made the headlines when the team of doctors successfully resuscitated a 27-year-old patient with massive cardiac arrest who had a downtime of 20 minutes to reach the hospital.
The Process of Rebirth ❏
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When the patient was brought into the Kauvery Hospital Emergency Room, there was no sign of life. He has suffered a sudden cardiac arrest preceded by intense chest pain. The doctor’s team provided advanced cardiac life support resuscitative measures and shocks, but it was in vain. After 30 minutes of efforts, the heart beat returned but slipped back, and the patient had a cardiac arrest, but active cardiac resuscitations were continued. The patient was transferred to the Hybrid Cath Lab, and an emergency V-A ECMO support was initiated to support the functions of lung and heart.
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With the assistance of ECMO, high-risk angioplasty with bioresorbable coronary scaffold was performed while the patient remained in cardiac arrest. This helped remove the 100% blocked artery and restored the normal flow to the heart. The ECMO support was removed after 3 days, and the patient regained consciousness with no brain defect or paralysis. After 4 days, the patient suffered another heart attack which was also successfully treated with another angioplasty. The heart function recovered from initial 20% to normal 55%.
This is an extremely rare and challenging scenario to even the experienced cardiologists and emergency care physicians. Timely effective resuscitation with ECMO support - eCPR is crucial for managing victims of cardiac arrest. None should be sent away without initiating life support resuscitation when brought to hospital facility with short period of unresponsiveness even with no signs of life.
Causes of Sudden Cardiac Arrest ❏ ❏
In 80% of the cases, coronary artery disease is the factor that causes SCA. Cardiomyopathy related to obesity, alcoholism and genetic channelopathy.
Symptoms of Sudden Cardiac Arrest ❏ Sudden collapse ❏ Loss of consciousness ❏ No pulse and breathing ❏ Preceding history of chest pain ❏ Preceding extreme weakness or exhaustion ❏ Preceding history of fast heart beating, fluttering or pounding (palpitations)
What do I do when faced with a similar situation? ❏ ❏
Immediately call the ambulance service or urgently move the person to the nearest hospital Perform CPR/eCPR, if you can
Take-home message: More awareness need to be created about sudden cardiac arrest since many do not know how to react and end up losing their loved ones. 10% of deaths in India occur due to SCA, and the survival rate is less than 5% when it happens out of hospital.
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