SCA in Children and Adolescents
SCA is caused by the sudden termination of cardiac activity. The victim show no signs of normal breathing or circulation, he becomes non-responsive. It results in sure death if the victim fails to receive immediate CPR and accurate treatment for restoring normal cardiac activity. Relatively SCA is not common in children and young adults. It is also not the leading cause of death in the young group. With prompt support and treatment, the young victims of SCA are more likely to survive compared to the pre-hospital traumatic cardiac arrest that the adults suffer.
SCA in children and young adults is mostly a precipitated outcome of ventricular fibrillation (VF) or rapid ventricular tachycardia (pulse-less VT). They are abnormal heart rhythms that are either typically inherited, or they are congenital cardiac conditions. They can also be the result of acute medical problems which happen to be responsible for the inflammation of the heart. Vigorous exercises and sports activities can also act as a trigger for these fatal arrhythmias.
There is something called the ‘Commotio Cordis’, it is caused by a sudden solid blow on the chest. The young children during their physical sports activities may strike a fatal one on his friend. It may also be caused by a hit of the base ball or the volley ball. This blow results in VT or VF.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR) states that reports of SCA mostly occur during the training or competition in male and female high school and college sports. SCA related youth deaths comprise of 0.5 to 1.0 per 100 000 high school athletes. The risk factor of the young compared to the adult population of around 35 years is 1/100 to 1/200.
Usage of proper and immediate CPR followed by AED is recommended for SCA in children. Further details are available www.AmericanMedSupply.com.
