On the occasion of the death of “Ruxi” Dumitrescu from cardiac arrest, The Liberal Globe updates on the emergency that claims many lives each year. Ruxandra “Ruxy” Dumitrescu’s death was announced last month by the Romanian Volleyball Federation. According to the post on the popular social networking platform, Ruxi Dumitrescu passed away from a cardiac arrest on Sunday night, aged just 46.
The cause of sudden cardiac arrest with diagnosed or undiagnosed heart disease, as defined as arrest, is most common:
- In Europe, an incident occurs every 45 seconds, with one in five occurring outdoors
- According to the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 450,000 Americans die of cardiac arrest each year.
Cardiac arrest is an emergency that must be treated within minutes by providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to prevent death. If resuscitation is achieved, the patient will require hospitalization in an Intensive Care Unit/ICU. However, the chances of survival are about 10% for those who suffer an arrest outside the hospital environment and 26% in hospital, with the timely application of CPR necessary to avoid brain damage due to hypoxia and consequences such as:
- coma to persistent/permanent vegetative state
- dysphagia
- epileptic seizures
- stroke
- speech disorders
- fatigue
- muscular weakness
- difficulty concentrating
- manifestations from the mental sphere such as depressive symptoms.
According to experts, cardiac arrest can be due to cardiac arrhythmias or a blockage in the flow of blood in the heart chambers. Although one in three deaths from cardiac arrest is unrelated to a history of cardiovascular disease, most cardiovascular diseases can lead to an arrest with coronary artery disease predominating and then: aortic valve stenosis, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart diseases, acute myocardial infarction, or congenital heart diseases such as tetralogy of Fallot;
Symptoms and warning signs
Symptoms of cardiac arrest are immediate and severe, notes the leading Cleveland Clinic, which include sudden collapse and loss of heart function, breathing and consciousness. Rarely, sudden cardiac arrest may be preceded by chest discomfort, shortness of breath, weakness, palpitations, or “fluttering” in the heart rate, but it generally gives no warning signs.
Earlier research, published in The Lancet Digital Health (“Warning symptoms associated with imminent sudden cardiac arrest: a population-based case-control study with external validation“), concluded that one in two people who suffered sudden cardiac arrest had at least one warning symptom 24 hours before the event, chest pain for men and shortness of breath for women.
The findings showed some additional specific symptoms in smaller but smaller groups of men and women, such as increased heart rates, seizure-like manifestations and flu-like symptoms.
