Cardiac Arrest/Sudden Cardiac Arrest

What is Cardiac Arrest?

With cardiac arrest, changes to the normal electrical activity of the heart causes it to stop beating. When this happens, the heart stops pumping blood to the body and brain, depriving vital organs of oxygen that keeps them functioning.

In adults, cardiac arrest is usually caused by narrowing of the blood vessels, which leads to a heart attack. In children cardiac arrest is usually caused by an underlying condition, such as an undiagnosed heart condition, or trauma. Causes include:

• Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle)
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (thickening of the heart muscle)
• Arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm)
• Congenital heart defects
• Stroke
• Trauma (e.g., injury to the chest or near drowning)
• Drug overdose

Sudden cardiac arrest can be brought on by athletic activity, especially if the child has an underlying condition. It affects boys more often than girls, and is more common in older children and teenagers, though young children and infants can sometime be affected. Other risk factors include family history of heart conditions of sudden cardiac arrest.

What are the Symptoms of Cardiac Arrest in Children?

Sudden cardiac arrest often happens very quickly with little to no warning signs. However, your child may experience symptoms leading up to cardiac arrest. These can include:

Diagnosing and Treating Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac arrest is an emergency situation, so it is usually diagnosed when a child is brought to the hospital after losing consciousness. Their care team may perform various tests, such as chest X-ray or electrocardiogram, to learn the cause of cardiac arrest.

Cardiac arrest needs to be treated right for the patient to survive. If a child’s heart stops, parents or caregivers should call 911 immediately. Treatment that can administered while waiting for emergency medical team include:

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, should be performed immediately. CPR uses chest compressions to manually pump blood in the body, allowing blood with oxygen to reach the organs and brain until heart rhythm can be restored.

If available, an automated external defibrillator (AED) can be used in addition to CPR. The device should be used immediately after cardiac arrest, as the chances of survival diminishes every minute. An AED delivers an electrical shock to the heart to help reestablish a normal rhythm. The device is simple to use and can be safely administered by anyone who has been trained.

Once the emergency medical team has arrived, they can take over treatment and transport the patient to the hospital for further care. Once the patient’s heart starts beating again, doctors will try to determine what caused the cardiac arrest and tailor additional treatment based on the diagnosis.

Long-Term Outlook

Children who are received prompt treatment for cardiac arrest should be able to recover completely. Their long-term outlook will depend on the cause of the cardiac arrest. They will need to receive follow-up care with a pediatric cardiologist if an underlying heart condition is discovered. Other follow-up treatment as needed will be determined by your child’s care providers.