Prepared for [Insert Organization Name]

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Sudden Cardiac ArrestIts time to know your risk

• Prepared for Insert Organization Name
• Insert Presentation Date

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Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)

• SCA claims an estimated 325,000 lives each year
• 1,000 lives every day, one life every two minutes
• Sudden Cardiac Arrest is not a heart attack
• Sudden Cardiac Arrest occurs when the heart
  develops a fast, abnormal rhythm that prevents it
  from pumping blood to the brain and body
• Emergency medical intervention and defibrillation
  is required within the first several minutes of
  the arrest
• An estimated 95 percent of SCA victims die before
  they reach a hospital or other source of
  emergency help
• High-risk patients must be identified before SCA
  strikes to reduce its devastating affects

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What Causes SCA?

• Ventricular tachycardia
• Very fast heart beats
• Ventricular fibrillation
• Rapid and chaotic heart beats
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Inherited, abnormally thick heart muscle
• Inherited and acquired electrical diseases of the
  heart
• Inherited abnormalities of the coronary arteries

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Sudden Cardiac Arrest
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Impact of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

• More people die from Sudden Cardiac Arrest than
  from AIDS, Breast Cancer and Lung Cancer combined

Heart Rhythm Society, 2005 American Cancer
Society, 2005, CDC, 2003.
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Urgency of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

• Resuscitation Success vs. Time

Chance of success reduced 7-10 each minute


Success
Success
Non
Non
-
-
linear
linear
Adapted from text Cummins RO, Annals Emerg Med.
1989, 181269-1275.
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SCA Statistics

• Consider 100 people with SCA

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SCA Statistics

• Survival Rate 7

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SCA Statistics

• 40 Recurrent SCA in 2 years

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Risk Factors

• Risk Factors for Sudden Cardiac Arrest
• Prior Sudden Cardiac Arrest
• Prior Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
• Heart Failure (Class II to IV)
• Ejection Fraction less than 40
• Family History of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

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Ejection Fraction (EF)

• Ejection Fraction (EF) is a measure of how well
  the heart pumps blood to the rest of the body
• EF is measured with a simple test called an
  echocardiogram, or ultrasound of the heart
• A normal EF is 55-65 a low EF (less than 40)
  may suggest high risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest
• Damage to the heart muscle (causing low EF) can
  be caused by
• A heart attack
• Inadequate blood flood due to coronary artery
  disease
• Diseases that directly affect heart muscle
  (cardiomyopathy)

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Echocardiogram
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Treatment Options

• Risk Factor Modification
• Eat a healthy diet
• Exercise regularly
• Maintain a healthy weight
• If you smoke, quit
• Medical Therapy
• Beta blockers
• ACE inhibitors
• Statin Therapies
• Interventional Procedures
• Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs)

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Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators

• A smaller, implantable version of the
  defibrillators often associated with emergency
  rooms
• Wires, or leads, from the device continuously
  monitor the hearts rhythm
• An electrical shock is delivered to the heart
  when an irregular rhythm is detected, restoring a
  normal rhythm
• ICDs keep a record of the heart's activity when
  an abnormal heart rhythm occurs
• ICDs are considered effective in fighting cardiac
  arrest over 90 percent of the time

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ICD Placement
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ICD Electrical Shock
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The Price of Technology

• Recent clinical trials have shown ICDs to be
  effective in a variety of patient populations
• Medicare has recently expanded coverage of ICD
  placement for up to 500,000 individuals
• Criteria for coverage include specific history
  of
• Cardiomyopathy
• Previous heart attack
• Heart failure
• Low Ejection Fraction
• Medicare coverage for an ICD is approximately
  30,000

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Summary

• SCA is leading cause of death and can frequently
  be predicted and prevented
• Individuals who have had a previous SCA, heart
  attack or have heart failure are at risk for SCA
• High-risk patients should know their Ejection
  Fraction and seek further medical evaluation if
  it is less than 40
• Underlying conditions that contribute to the risk
  for SCA should be treated medically and monitored
  by a primary care physician or cardiologist
• ICDs have been show to be effective in patients
  who have had a heart attack or have heart failure