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Sudden
Cardiac Arrest
Sudden
cardiac arrest is when the heart stops pumping after an
abnormally fast heart rhythm.
A person
loses consciousness and emergency treatment such as external
defibrillation may return the heart to a more normal rhythm.
After a
person recovers, a heart rhythm specialist will often
prescribe treatment to control the heart rate or to
automatically shock the heart into a normal rhythm.
Treatment
options after a person is revived from sudden cardiac arrest
may include medication and an implanted defibrillator.
A
defibrillator detects when the heart's ventricles begin
quivering (ventricular fibrillation) and delivers therapies
that return the heart to a more normal rhythm.
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