Cardiac Arrest

A cardiac arrest, also known as cardiopulmonary arrest or circulatory arrest, is the abrupt cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively during systole.

What is Cardiac Arrest?

A cardiac arrest is also called a cardiopulmonary arrest or circulatory arrest and indicates a sudden stop in effective and normal blood circulation due to failure of the heart to pump blood.

Cardiac Arrest Treatment

Cardiac Arrest Prognosis

Cardiac Arrest Prevention

Cardiac Arrest Ethical Issues

Heart attack and cardiac arrest difference

What is Lazarus Syndrome (Autoresuscitation)?

Latest Cardiac Arrest News and Research

Study identifies key immune cells that could protect the brain after cardiac arrest

Despite improvements in CPR and rates of getting patients to the hospital, only about 10 percent of people ultimately survive after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), translating to about 300,000 deaths per year in the United States.

5 Dec 2024

Black athletes face higher risk of sudden cardiac arrest and death

A recent major review of data published by the Lancet and led by Emory sports cardiologist Jonathan Kim, MD, shows that Black athletes are approximately five times more likely to experience sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) compared to White athletes, despite some evidence of a decline in rates of SCD overall.

28 Nov 2024

Survival chances found to be significantly better for sports-related cardiac arrest

Most cases of cardiac arrest during sport are likely to be preventable. In addition, the emergency response with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillators within the sports context can be improved.

19 Nov 2024

Benefits of sport and leisure activities outweigh the risks for people with heart disease, cardiologists say

While exercise is generally beneficial for a person's overall health, physical activities may increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular disease events in certain susceptible individuals. However, cardiologists say that the benefits outweigh the risks.

19 Nov 2024

Ablation may offer better outcomes than medication for ventricular tachycardia

Ablation, a procedure to treat abnormal electrical short circuits caused by a heart attack and is usually reserved for patients who do not improve with medication, may be a better first-line treatment for heart attack survivors experiencing dangerous rapid heartbeat episodes, according to late-breaking science presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2024.

18 Nov 2024

Updated recommendations stress importance of CPR for drowning victims

Updated guidance reaffirms the recommendation for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and highlights the importance of compressions with rescue breaths as a first step in responding to cardiac arrest following drowning, according to a new, focused update to Special Circumstances Guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

12 Nov 2024

Bystander CPR within 10 minutes of cardiac arrest increases survival chances and brain recovery

The sooner a lay rescuer (bystander) starts cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a person having a cardiac arrest at home or in public, up to 10 minutes after the arrest, the better the chances of saving the person's life and protecting their brain function, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Resuscitation Science Symposium 2024.

11 Nov 2024

COVID-19 pandemic led to significant decline in cardiac arrest survival rates

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates dropped significantly at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and have continued to remain lower than in the pre-pandemic years of 2015-2019, according to a preliminary study to be presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2024.

11 Nov 2024

911 telecommunicators improve CPR access for women during cardiac arrest

Women were less likely than men to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in public, however, this disparity improved when 911 telecommunicators provided lifesaving instructions to callers seeking help for someone having a cardiac arrest, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Resuscitation Science Symposium 2024.

11 Nov 2024

MESA heart disease risk score performs well even without race modifiers

A version of the MESA heart disease risk score that did not include race predicted heart disease risk just as well as the version that includes race, according to a preliminary study presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2024.

11 Nov 2024

Quick defibrillator shocks critical for cardiac arrest survival

It is well known that acting quickly in the event of a cardiac arrest is important, but what does a quick initial shock with a defibrillator mean exactly for patients' chances of survival? Researchers from Amsterdam UMC analyzed the data of 3723 patients who had a cardiac arrest outside the hospital and concluded that for the first shock, every minute reduces the chance of survival by 6%.

28 Oct 2024

Study links schizophrenia to increased risk of sudden cardiac death

The lifetime risk of an unexpected and sudden death from a cardiovascular cause in the absence of pre-existing heart disease-;known as sudden cardiac death-;is more than 4 times higher for people with schizophrenia than it is for the general population, indicates Danish research published online in the journal Heart.

22 Oct 2024

Black patients face higher risks following coronary artery bypass grafting

Despite advances in cardiovascular medicine, Black patients are 22% more likely than white patients to die in the hospital after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, according to a study of more than 1 million patients presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2024 annual meeting.

21 Oct 2024

New defibrillation strategy could enhance survival rates in cardiac arrest

Joshua Lupton, M.D., has no memory of his own cardiac arrest in 2016. He only knows that first responders resuscitated his heart with a shock from a defibrillator, ultimately leading to his complete recovery and putting him among fewer than one in 10 people nationwide who survive cardiac arrest outside of a hospital.

23 Sep 2024