Can sudden cardiac arrest be prevented?
Death is best treated by prevention. Most sudden death is associated with heart disease, so the at-risk population remains males older than 40 years of age who smoke, have high blood pressure, and diabetes (the risk factors for heart attack). Other risks include syncope (fainting or loss of consciousness) and known heart disease. Syncope, or loss of consciousness, is a significant risk factor for sudden death. While some reasons for passing out are benign, there is always a concern that the reason was an abnormal heart rhythm that subsequently spontaneously corrected. The fear is that the next episode will be a sudden cardiac arrest. Depending on the healthcare provider’s suspicion based on the patient’s history, physical examination, laboratory tests, and EKG, the healthcare practitioner may recommend inpatient or outpatient heart monitoring to try to find a clue as to whether the passing out was due to a deadly heart rhythm. Unfortunately, the potentially suspect rhythm may not recur
