What causes sudden cardiac death?
SCD, or cardiac arrest, may be caused by almost all known heart diseases. Most cardiac arrests occur when the diseased heart begins to exhibit rapid and/or chaotic activity — ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation. Some are due to extreme slowing of the heart. All these events are called life-threatening arrhythmias. Heart disease. Underlying heart disease is nearly always found in victims of sudden cardiac death. Typically in adults this takes the form of atherosclerosis. Two or more major coronary arteries are narrowed in 90 percent of cases; scarring from a prior heart attack is found in two-thirds of victims. Therefore, the risk factors for sudden cardiac death include similar risk factors for atherosclerosis, such as smoking and high blood pressure. A heart that’s scarred or enlarged from any cause is prone to develop life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. The first six months after a heart attack is a particularly high-risk period for sudden cardiac death in patients with ath
