Tag Archives: sudden cardiac arrest

Lessons learnt from a tragic loss Dear Sirs, Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) without overt heart disease is thankfully rare but nevertheless an incredibly emotive condition principally because of its inherent predilection for younger patients.1 The recent case report by Westaby et al. with editorial by Sedgwick et al. highlights an important case whereby a young woman died following prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation attempts for refractory ventricular arrhythmias. The article concentrates on lessons learnt and potential improvements during the acute resuscitation phase. Principally the team examined the role and timing of the external LUCAS

The recent case report by Westaby et al. (see pages 141–3) highlights yet another tragic example of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in a young person. Despite the best efforts of the medical team managing her, this 20-year-old student died following an episode of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. Following more than 70 cardioversions and the use of high dose anti-dysrrhythmic therapy, it took over 80 minutes to establish sinus rhythm. Over the subsequent six hours, she became hypotensive, oliguric and acidotic, but her pupils remained reactive to light. However, following the insertion of an intra aortic balloon pump and re-introduction of n