Sudden cardiac death

About 80 per cent of individuals who have experienced a heart attack or have been known to suffer from cardiac disease of long duration (coronary heart disease) suffer sudden cardiac death. The most common cause of sudden cardiac death is life-threatening high-frequency cardiac arrhythmia such as ventricular tachycardia, ventricular flutter and ventricular fibrillation.

About 15,000 individuals die due to sudden cardiac death every year in Austria. This unexpected cardiovascular arrest, a result of known or previously unknown heart disease, leads to loss of consciousness after one or two minutes. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs immediately (sudden death) or within 24 hours after the onset of acute symptoms.


In addition to immediate heart- and lung resuscitation, which is a life-prolonging measure, the only rescue measure consists of using electric shocks, also known as defibrillation. This must be performed very early because permanent brain damage may occur within the short period of three to four minutes. Besides, without early intervention this incident leads to death in 90% of cases.