Sudden death

The World Health Organization defines sudden death as death occurring within 6 hours after the onset of acute symptoms. Characteristics: ① sudden death, ② unexpected death, ③ natural death or non-violent death. Most scholars advocate defining it as 1 hour. Various heart diseases can cause sudden death, but more than half of sudden cardiac deaths are caused by coronary heart disease. The clinical manifestations are mainly cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest. The following symptoms and signs may appear in sequence: ① disappearance of heart sounds; ② pulse not palpable, blood pressure unmeasurable; ③ sudden loss of consciousness, if accompanied by convulsions, it is called Adams-Stokes syndrome, which may be self-limiting and recover within seconds or 1-2 minutes, and may be fatal if prolonged; ④ intermittent breathing, gasping in nature, followed by cessation; ⑤ coma; ⑥ dilated pupils. The most important features for judging cardiac arrest are loss of consciousness and disappearance of large artery pulsation. There are 3 types of electrocardiographic manifestations in patients with sudden cardiac death: ventricular fibrillation, sinus arrest, and electromechanical dissociation.