The findings of a new study suggest that patients who survive a heart attack together with sudden cardiac arrest are at a higher risk of dying within six years following hospital discharge. This research was published in the ‘Journal of the American Heart Association’. A heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked, and sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly. Cardiac arrest can be fatal if not treated immediately. Most heart attacks do not lead to sudden cardiac arrest. But when sudden cardiac arrest occurs, heart attack is a common cause. The study draws on data from 13,444 patients collected between 2010 and 2017. It shows for the first time that patients who had heart attacks and then a sudden cardiac arrest were at a greater risk of developing further complications. Those who had a cardiac arrest at the time of their heart attack were twice as likely as those suffering heart attack alone to go on to develop abnormal heart rhythms known as ventricular arrhythmia (VA). Those with a cardiac arrest were also 36 per cent more likely to die on average within three years following discharge from hospital. The researchers suggest that this small subgroup of patients may benefit from additional treatments such an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) – a small device that treats people with abnormal heart rhythms – to see if it improves their long-term health outcomes. This is because in some cases heart attacks can lead to a condition called ventricular arrhythmia (VA) – a type of abnormal heartbeat where the heart begins beating faster before going into a spasm and stops pumping completely- which can cause sudden cardiac arrest. Dr Fu Siong Ng, senior author of the study and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Cardiac Electrophysiology at Imperial College London, said:

“Most patients who have heart attacks do not experience a cardiac arrest. However, our study has revealed that there are a small group of patients who do, and if they survive the initial cardiac arrest they are at increased of further complications and early death. This study has highlighted that we may need to look at how we treat these types of patients and our current guidelines may need to be updated. There is a case that in addition to the current treatments on offer to heart attack patients these patients may benefit from ICDs. However, we would need to carry out a clinical trial to validate this theory.”