Conditions Cardiac arrest

Cardiac arrest

A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body. It is not a heart attack but can be caused by one. There are usually no symptoms and cardiac arrest often happens without warning. A person is at a higher risk of cardiac arrest if they have previously had a heart attack, have congenital heart disease or an inherited heart condition.

Cardiac arrest is an electrical problem with the heart (in contrast to a heart attack, which is caused by a circulation problem). During cardiac arrest, the heart stops pumping blood around the body, starving the brain of oxygen. The person will become unconscious, unresponsive and unable to breathe properly.

The most common cause of cardiac arrest is ventricular fibrillation, which is when the heart quivers or fibrillates instead of pumping due to abnormal electrical activity. Other causes of cardiac arrest can include heart attack, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, heart valve disease and acute myocarditis.