What are the causes of sudden cardiac arrest?
Sudden death is most often caused by heart disease. When blood vessels narrow, the heart muscle can become irritated because of lack of blood supply. In heart attack (acute myocardial infarction), a blood vessel becomes completely blocked by a blood clot, and there is enough irritability of the muscle to cause ventricular fibrillation. In fact, the reason many people with chest pain are admitted to the hospital is to monitor their heart rate and rhythm for signs that might lead to ventricular fibrillation. Sudden death may also be the first presentation of heart disease. Congestive heart failure and heart valve problems, like aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve) also increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Cardiomyopathy is a broad category of heart disease where the heart muscle does not contract properly for whatever reason. Often it is ischemic, where part of the heart muscle doesn’t get an adequate blood supply for a prolonged period of time and no longer can efficie
