COMPLICATIONS OF CARDIAC ARREST

Complication in medical terms can be defined as a secondary disease or condition that

develops in the course of primary disease or condition that arises either as a result of it or from
independent causes. There are a some complications of cardiac arrest as example heart
arrhythmias, heart failure, coma and death.

First complication is heart arrhythmias. Heart arrhythmias was occurred due to the
electrical impulses that coordinate the heartbeats do not work properly, causing heart to beat too
fast, too slow or irregularly. Cardiac arrhythmias consist of three types which are ventricular
tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, atrial fibrillation and brady arrhythmias. It may feel like a
fluttering or racing heart and may be harmless.

Next, heart failure sometimes known as congestive heart failure. It occurred when the
heart muscle does not pump blood as well as it should. In a certain conditions, narrowed
coronary artery in the heart or high blood pressure will gradually leave your heart too weak and
stiff to be filled and pumped efficiently.

Furthermore, some patient with cardiac arrest will experiences coma as a complication
which is a prolonged state of unconsciousness. During a coma, a person is unresponsive to the
environment. The patient is alive like they were sleeping. However, the person cannot be
awakened by any simulation including pain.

Lastly, most cardiac arrest may cause death. This is because of the abnormalities of heart
rhythm called cardiac arrhythmias. The most life-threatening arrhythmia is ventricular
fibrillation which is an erratic, disorganized firing of impulses from the ventricles. When this
occurs, the heart is unable to pump blood and death will occur within minutes if left untreated.